It happens but it's not that common now where I am. Not familiar with Austin though. That market is far more dynamic than south Louisiana's metro areas. I am seeing a lot more short term rentals lately in places where there are some tourist attractions, a lot of festivals, or bougie shopping/restaurants - like Mandeville, St. Francisville, or New Roads. That has driven up prices.

I've been looking for good rental opportunities but they are damn hard to find right now.

In the Baton Rouge area, there are neighborhoods that I thought were going to plateau by now (lots of older folks, aging housing stock, etc.) but are not dynamic enough to see some good potential buys. It's probably a good thing for the stability of the neighborhood but it's annoying if you are looking for a good, affordable home in an area that can command decent rental prices.

My parent's neighborhood is a good example (it's similar in age to Shenendoah or Kenilworth - but not nearly as large). Houses there were built mostly in the 1970s / 1980s and aren't really considered super trendy now. Some of them need some real work, while others have seen some moderate investment - most of them have decent bones but are just not in the format most people want today. The location is okay - almost no crime, and very little flood risk. The owners were almost all boomers/empty nesters 10-15 years ago; but they have been very, very slowly replaced by younger families with kids. It has never been full of young families like it was in the 1990s though.

The lull that aging neighborhoods go through where a bunch of the boomers sort of exit all at once didn't really happen there. That change seemed extremely glacial over the past 20 years. Then the last few years it's as if the demographics in there became almost static - with no home sales or listings to speak of. It's somewhat diverse from an age perspective so I guess that brings some stability.

This post was edited on 5/16/24 at 1:44 pm