Austin Rentals on Kendall Creek Properties — Austin Property Management

1031 Exchange Into an Austin Rental: Rules, Timeline, and Mistakes to Avoid

Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

IRC Section 1031 lets you sell an investment property, roll the entire sale price into a “like-kind” replacement property, and defer 100% of the federal capital gains tax and depreciation recapture. Zero owed at closing. But you have exactly 45 calendar days from the sale to identify the replacement in writing, and 180 days total to close on it. Miss either deadline by a single day and the entire deferral is gone, you owe federal LTCG plus depreciation recapture plus the 3.8% NIIT, and you find out about it on next April’s return.

The Best Austin Neighborhoods for Long-Term Rental ROI in 2026

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Austin single-family rentals are running gross yields of roughly 4.8% to 7.5% in 2026, depending on the submarket. The national average is closer to 7% to 9%. So if you came here looking for an investor-paradise cash flow story, this is not it. (Sorry, not sorry.) Austin is an appreciation play with decent yield and very good tenant quality. That is the honest setup.

Lets get into where the money actually works.

Sell or Rent Your Austin Home in 2026: A Decision Framework

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A $500,000 Austin home that rents for $2,800 to $3,200 a month is renting at roughly 0.56 percent of its value. The textbook 1 percent rule says investors should walk away from anything under 1 percent of value as monthly rent. So by the rule every real estate book on Amazon repeats, almost no central Austin single-family home should ever be a rental. And yet plenty of them are. So whats going on right.

Self-Manage or Hire a Property Manager: Real Numbers for Austin Rentals in 2026

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A typical Austin property manager charges 10% of monthly rent plus a leasing fee equal to 75% of one month’s rent in turnover years, which on a $2,800 single-family home works out to roughly $3,360 to $5,460 a year. That is the actual price of hiring out. The harder question is what your time is worth, because self-managing one Austin rental house eats 40 to 60 hours a year of phone calls, screening, taxes, midnight emergencies, and trips to Home Depot, no matter what the rent is. Lets do the math the way I actually do it when an owner sits down across from me and asks the question straight.

Austin Property Management Fees in 2026: What Kendall Creek Charges and Why

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Kendall Creek Properties charges 10% of the monthly rent we collect on your Austin rental, plus 75% of one month’s rent as a leasing fee when we place a new tenant. No tech fees. No maintenance markups. No surprise line items at the end of the year. That is the whole pricing sheet (yes really, lets keep this honest from the start).

So if you own a $2,500 a month rental in Austin, our management fee is $250 a month and our leasing fee in a turnover year is $1,875. Total annual cost in a year you turn the property is roughly $4,875. In a year with no turnover, it is $3,000. Thats the number you can plug into your spreadsheet right now.

The Hidden Costs of Owning an Austin Rental Property: Real Numbers for 2026

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On a $400,000 Austin single-family rental pulling $2,800 a month in rent, your real non-mortgage operating costs in 2026 will land somewhere between $18,000 and $25,000 a year. Gross rent is $33,600. So before you ever touch a mortgage payment, you are netting $8,000 to $15,000 (and that is if you actually fund a capex reserve like a grown-up, which most owners don’t).

That is the math. Ed Neuhaus, broker-owner of Kendall Creek Properties (and also of Neuhaus Realty Group, a residential sales brokerage in Austin since 2007) has been doing this math with owners for 19 years. The number people quote when they say “the rent covers my mortgage so I’m cash-flowing” almost never includes the seven or eight line items below. That’s not me being dramatic. That’s just the Travis CAD tax bill and a roof at year 22.

Texas Security Deposit Laws: The 30-Day Rule and the Triple-Damages Trap

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Texas landlords have exactly 30 days after a tenant surrenders the property to refund the security deposit or send an itemized list of deductions, and missing that deadline in bad faith costs $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus the tenant’s attorney fees. That is Section 92.103 for the deadline and Section 92.109 for the penalty, and yes, those section numbers are worth knowing by heart if you self-manage.

Sounds strict right. Because it is. I have watched landlords lose JP court rulings over a $900 deposit and walk out owing four grand once the math finished. The most common version is not even greed. It is the owner who got busy, missed the 30-day window, and tried to send the itemized list on day 38. By then the legal presumption already flipped to bad faith, and the conversation in court is no longer about the deductions. It is about how much the landlord owes the tenant.

Texas Landlord Tenant Laws Every Property Owner Should Know

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Texas landlord tenant laws live almost entirely in Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code, and the single most expensive mistake an owner can make is missing the 30-day security deposit deadline. Miss it, act in bad faith, and you owe the tenant $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld portion plus their attorney fees. That is Section 92.109, and yes, it is worth knowing by heart.

Sounds harsh right. Because it is. I have watched landlords lose JP court rulings over a $900 deposit and walk out owing four grand once the math finished. So before we get into leases and repairs and evictions, lets put the rule book on the table so you know what you are actually working with.