Having been in the business for 21 years I have worked with every variety of real estate investor. In the 90's & 00's most of my clients were looking to invest in primary residences that they would live in with the occasional vacation home. While I never have been involved with these personally, unfortunately many people signed up for time shares which have long-proven to be disastrous investments - I digress. 

In the 10's it shifted to a healthy blend of flippers and folks buying to hold and rent for future spec builds. In my neighborhood of Bouldin Creek (78704), this has made folks incredible returns. I myself purchased two separate large lots since 2007 and continue to invest in the area where I can find value for me or my clients. Of course, with $600/sft + as the new norm for new constructions, everyone is wise to this game now so get ready to spend if you want in on this game as it takes big money to make big money in Austin's hottest neighborhoods. 

Spec builds are high risk high rewards but, honestly, don't carry the best internal rate of return (IRR) compared to a rather new area of real estate investing and one that I am very involved with personally as well with clients - STR investing. With the quagmires of HOA rules, per city governance and permitting and hard to forecast occupancy as well as average daily rental value data, this is both THE most exciting new area of real estate investments but also one that requires the most expertise to navigate. 

I have made a deep investment of time and money to understand this and it's really paying off for my clients so I am excited to expand to more clientele for anyone that is interested in learning more.