Let’s start with a Hutto. For those of you that don’t know this, Hutto is a hamlet about 30 miles north of Austin City Hall to Hutto City Hall, so actually it’s much closer since the city boundaries of both have tentacles that reach well beyond the walls of their respective governments. Hutto is mostly ranching and farming and when I first began to manage properties I rejected rentals there because it was “too far out” for proper servicing. Not anymore! With I-30 Hutto is connected to Austin and to the airport which is only 30 minutes away. By the way real estate investors may want to keep this in mind when considering purchasing an investment property. Enough history – now the Hutto news. Titan Business Park is a planned speculative business park that will have 800,000 square feet of space on 72 acres (bye-bye farming land) that is designated for light industrial use. The first tenant announced is Paradign Metals who will occupy a 100,000 square feet building and bring Hutto 250 -275 immediate jobs and looks to have around 400 employees by 2021. Paradign Metals provides precision sheet metal fabrication, powder coating, screen printing, and related services. They ship their products internationally (remember Hutto is 30 minutes’ to the airport).

The Austin and Austin area employment picture is Very Good. In a recent article in the Austin American Statesman, the Austin unemployment rate is an envious 3.1%. even though thousands of folks have moved here over the past months. I bet most of those folks already had jobs lined up before they hitched their U-Haul to their car and hit the road. The article went on to state that 29,400 more folks are employed now than this time last year. That figure could represent a small city! LinkedIn reported that Austin is the numero uno city for attracting new workers. The Austin area traffic and rising home costs do not seem to deter many from moving here as our area draws a lot of techy folks from California, New York, and even Houston where heavy traffic is an everyday experience. And the cost of living in California and New York is much more expensive that the Austin area. Bottom line is that a lot talented folks want to live in the Austin Area.

Considering that many of the new arriving transplants are young families, those of us that can offer a well maintained rent house are in a perfect position to reap the benefit of being an Austin area real estate investor.

The great one used to say “How Sweet It Is” (that of course would be Ralph Cramden from the Honeymooners).

Rick Ebert / Austin, Texas / 17 August 18