921 S 11th Street Investor Case Study | Temple TX Rental Deal
Investor client case study
How a First-Time Austin Investor Bought 921 S 11th Street
This investor case study shows how Taylor Dasch helped Vince, a first-time investor from the Austin area, move from broad deal shopping to 921 S 11th Street in Temple, Texas. The winning property was a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home purchased for $147,500 with estimated rents of $1,400-$1,600 as a long-term rental and $2,100+ as a mid-term rental.
Direct answer
What happened in this deal?
Vince found Taylor online, started with a wide investor buy box, and kept comparing each property against risk, rehab, rental demand, and exit flexibility.
The first property that looked exciting was a single-family home with attached and detached living space. It had the kind of layout investors naturally notice, but the rehab and equity position were not clean enough. The deal Taylor supported was a less exotic 3/2 that gave Vince better flexibility: test the mid-term rental strategy if the numbers worked, or fall back to a long-term rental if the market or operations called for it.
Closed March 30, 2026 after 221 days on market.
1,508 sqft, built in 1934, W A Barclay Add.
About 11.4%-13.0% gross annual rent-to-price before expenses.
About 17.1%+ gross annual rent-to-price before expenses.
The client profile
A first-time investor who needed range before conviction.
Vince was not trying to buy the cheapest house on the list. He was trying to understand what type of Central Texas rental actually fit his goals.
01
Found Taylor online
Vince was based in the Austin area and wanted to start investing in real estate. He reached out after finding Taylor’s investor-focused real estate content.
02
Started wide
The early search included multifamily homes, ADU-style setups, 2/1 properties, 3/2 properties, and several different price points.
03
Needed a real buy box
The work was not just showing homes. It was narrowing the deal criteria until the client could tell the difference between interesting and investable.
Search path
The property with the extra living units was tempting. 921 S 11th still had the cleaner fallback.
Additional units can look like instant upside. They can also hide the easiest trap for new investors: more moving parts, more rehab uncertainty, and less room if the valuation is already tight.
Why the ADU-style property kept pulling attention
The attached and detached living-unit setup created obvious rental strategy appeal. A property with multiple living spaces can support flexible housing demand, especially when an investor wants more than one possible income stream.
Why Taylor did not force it
The rehab scope and equity position did not create enough margin. If an investor is starting behind after closing, the clever layout does not matter nearly as much as the downside risk.
Deal timeline
How the search moved from possibilities to 921 S 11th.
The best investor searches are not random tours. Each showing should sharpen the buy box.
Start with several strategies
Taylor and Vince looked at a wider range of options first: multifamily, additional-unit setups, smaller 2/1 homes, and more standard 3/2 rentals.
Let the favorite property compete against the numbers
Vince kept coming back to the property with extra living units. Instead of treating that as the answer, Taylor pressure-tested the rehab and equity position.
Walk away when the margin is not there
The extra-unit property did not make enough sense once repair needs and post-closing equity were considered. Passing on it protected the client from starting the portfolio in a weak position.
Re-shop with a clearer buy box
After seeing more homes, Vince came back to 921 S 11th Street. Taylor was not immediately sold on it, but the numbers were worth reviewing.
Choose flexibility over novelty
The final property was a 3/2 purchased for $147,500. That mattered because Vince wanted to pursue a mid-term rental strategy, but the layout could still perform as a long-term rental if that became the better path.
Deal evaluation
The real reason 921 S 11th made sense.
A first-time investor needs downside protection. In this case, the 3/2 layout, $147,500 close price, and two rental lanes helped offset strategy risk because the property was not dependent on only one use case.
| Factor | What Taylor looked at | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; 1,508 sqft | A 3/2 typically gives an investor a broader tenant pool than a smaller or more unusual layout. |
| Strategy | Mid-term rental first, long-term rental fallback | The deal did not depend on one perfect operating plan. Estimated rents were $2,100+ as a mid-term rental and $1,400-$1,600 as a long-term rental before expenses. |
| Price | $147,500 close price; $97.81/sqft current-price basis in the CSV | The price created a better rent-to-price profile than many cleaner-looking but higher-priced options. |
| Market signal | 221 days on market; original list price $155,000; list price $153,000; SP/LP 96.4% | Longer market time gave Taylor room to frame Vince as an investor comparing multiple real options. |
| Condition | Flooring repair, caulking, cosmetic work, and leveling | The repair list was real, but it could be isolated and bid instead of guessed at emotionally. |
| Foundation type | Pier-and-beam home | Pier-and-beam can be workable, but leveling needs to be taken seriously because buyers and tenants react to visible unevenness. |
| Seller room | Seller had limited equity after closing costs | Limited seller room can cap negotiation leverage. The offer strategy needed to be direct without pretending the seller had unlimited flexibility. |
| Taylor’s read | Not my personal favorite at first, but the numbers were worth respecting | An investor agent should separate personal taste from deal quality. The client liked it, and the risk-adjusted setup made sense. |
Repair scope
The repair list at 921 S 11th was not ignored. It became part of the underwriting.
- Flooring needed to be repaired in parts of the house.
- Caulking and smaller finish items needed attention.
- The property had mostly cosmetic needs, not a full gut-rehab profile based on the initial review.
- The pier-and-beam home did need some leveling, which needed to be treated as a real cost item.
- The final decision depended on whether the repair scope still left the property with enough rental and resale flexibility.
“This is an investor. He may make offers on a few properties. Please let me know where this stands before we start writing competing offers.”
That was the negotiation posture Taylor used with a property that had been sitting. The goal was not to bluff. It was to create clear communication with the listing side while preserving the investor’s ability to compare multiple real options.
I was not crazy about the property at first. But investors do not buy based on my personal taste. They buy based on numbers, risk, and exit options.
The 3/2 layout was the part I kept coming back to. Vince wanted to try a mid-term rental, and 921 S 11th had a projected MTR lane around $2,100+ per month. But when you are working with a first-time investor, I do not want the deal to need one perfect strategy to survive.
If the furnished rental plan works, great. If it does not, the projected long-term rental range of $1,400-$1,600 per month gives the property a cleaner fallback than a more niche layout. That is the kind of risk offset I care about when someone is buying their first investment property.
The deal still needed discipline. The seller did not have as much room as I would have liked, and the house needed work. But Vince liked the property, the $147,500 close price made the rent-to-price relationship worth respecting, and the structure gave him more than one path after closing.
Investor lessons
What first-time investors should take from this case study.
This is not a case study about chasing the most exciting house. It is about buying the property that still works when your first plan changes.
Flexible beats flashy
An ADU or detached unit can be powerful, but extra structure does not automatically mean a better deal. The repair and equity math still have to work.
The fallback strategy matters
If a mid-term rental does not perform as expected, the property should still make sense as a long-term rental or resale candidate.
Seller equity changes negotiations
When a seller is already tight after closing costs, the investor needs a negotiation plan that reflects reality instead of assuming endless price movement.
Cosmetic does not mean risk-free
Flooring, caulking, and finishes may be simple. Leveling on a pier-and-beam home deserves real attention and contractor input.
Personal taste is secondary
An investor-friendly agent should be able to say, “I am not personally excited about this, but the numbers deserve a look.”
The buy box gets sharper by touring
Seeing multiple property types helped Vince understand the tradeoffs between multifamily, extra units, smaller homes, and a more standard 3/2 rental.
Building your own buy box? Start at the Temple investing hub for the strategy pages behind this search, and pull the current numbers from the Temple TX market update before you underwrite anything.
Before I would call it a deal
The questions Taylor would want answered before the next investor offer.
These are the questions that keep new investors from buying a story instead of buying a property.
Rental operations
Can the property survive as both MTR and LTR?
What is the realistic long-term rent? What is the realistic furnished rental demand? What happens if vacancy is higher than expected?
Repair risk
Has the leveling been bid, not guessed?
Pier-and-beam leveling can be manageable, but it should be priced before the investor treats the return projection as real.
Exit strategy
Who buys or rents this if Plan A fails?
A clean investor deal has more than one path. The tenant pool, resale buyer pool, and financing profile all matter.
Negotiation
Is there enough seller room to solve the risk?
When seller equity is limited, the offer needs to be sharp. That may mean price, concessions, repairs, or simply knowing when not to force it.
FAQ
Investor questions this case study answers.
Was this investor already experienced?
No. Vince was a first-time investor living in the Austin area. That shaped the process because the goal was not just to find one house. The goal was to help him understand how different property types behave as investments.
Why did Taylor look at so many property types?
Early investor searches often need range. Looking at multifamily, ADU-style homes, 2/1 homes, and 3/2 homes gave Vince a practical comparison between yield potential, repair risk, tenant demand, and exit strategy.
Why pass on a property with extra living units?
Extra living units can create upside, but they do not erase bad math. In this case, the rehab scope and post-closing equity position made the property less attractive than it first looked.
Why is a 3/2 useful for a first-time investor?
A 3-bedroom, 2-bath home can reduce strategy risk because it usually has a broader tenant pool. On 921 S 11th, Taylor estimated $1,400-$1,600 per month as a long-term rental and $2,100+ per month as a mid-term rental before expenses.
What was Taylor’s role during negotiation?
Taylor communicated that his investor client was comparing multiple properties and needed clarity before writing simultaneous offers. On a listing that had been sitting, that kind of direct communication can keep the process moving without wasting the client’s leverage.
Is this investment advice?
No. This page is a real estate case study and marketing example. Investors should verify rent, expenses, insurance, taxes, repairs, financing, and tax consequences with the proper professionals before buying.
The public case study now includes verified MLS details and Taylor’s rental-rate estimates for 921 S 11th Street. Final net cash flow, repair totals, vacancy, furnishing costs, utilities, management, insurance, taxes, and financing are not shown here unless they are verified against source documents. Past examples do not guarantee future performance.
Work with Taylor
Want a second set of investor eyes before you write the offer?
Taylor Dasch helps Central Texas investors evaluate properties the way operators evaluate them: rental fallback, repair risk, neighborhood context, financing friction, and the exit strategy if Plan A does not work.
