Lampasas County

Lampasas County sits at a 3.3% cap rate with a gross rent-to-price ratio of 0.508%, and the modeled investment produces negative $789 per month in cash flow on a 20% down purchase at 6.85%. Cash-on-cash comes in at -13%. Those numbers place Lampasas firmly on the appreciation side of the spectrum, meaning the only way this pencils is if you believe in price growth carrying the return, not the rent check. Year-over-year home price growth was 1.32% at the time of this data, which is modest, and the appreciation score of 63 out of 100 reflects a market that leans that direction without being a high-conviction appreciation play. An affordability index of 62 and a median home price of $316,594 suggest the market is not cheap relative to its rent base, which is exactly why the cash-flow score sits at 46.

The cash-flow buyer has no business here at current financing costs. At 6.85%, the monthly mortgage alone is $1,660 against a median rent of $1,340, meaning you're upside down before you add a single dollar of taxes, insurance, or maintenance. Even an all-cash buyer clearing the debt service would be working with a 3.3% cap rate, which barely keeps pace with inflation in a good year. The appreciation buyer gets a more interesting story, but with 1.32% YoY price growth, you are not getting Austin-level tailwinds, you are getting a slow, steady market that ranks 501st out of 1,000 nationally and in the 36th percentile. The investor most likely to make money here is a value-add operator who can force appreciation through renovation or density, buying below the $316,594 median, pushing rents above $1,340, and compressing their effective purchase price-to-rent ratio. At 21,829 people, though, the universe of available deals is thin and the exit pool is shallow.

No economic anchor data was provided for Lampasas County, so the employment base and its stability cannot be assessed from this data set.

The tax and insurance picture is a real underwriting consideration here. At a 1.8% state-average effective property tax rate, Texas's property tax burden is high enough to deserve its own line on your underwrite. On a $316,594 purchase, that translates to $5,699 annually in property taxes alone. Add $1,583 in annual insurance and the combined monthly tax-and-insurance load is $607, which is 45% of the gross rent on a median-priced asset. That $607 figure is baked into the modeled $469 in estimated expenses, and it is the single biggest reason why a gross rent-to-price ratio above 0.5% still produces negative cash flow. Worth noting: the 1.8% figure is a state-average estimate from the Tax Foundation (2024), and actual Lampasas County or township-level rates may differ, so verify with the county appraisal district before closing.

The small population of 21,829 is the primary concentration risk. A single large employer reducing headcount, a demographic shift, or a prolonged period of flat rents would hit occupancy hard in a market with limited renter depth. There is no vacancy or demographic trend data in the provided set, but at this population size, any investor should stress-test their underwrite against 10-15% vacancy and a scenario where rents stay flat for 24 months. The negative cash-flow baseline makes that scenario painful quickly.

Compared to the five neighboring counties provided, Lampasas is the most expensive by median price at $316,594, and all five neighbors carry the same overall score of 55. Bosque County at $242,715 is the closest comp and likely offers a better entry point for an appreciation-oriented buyer who wants to stay in the same general corridor. Karnes ($199,873), De Witt ($212,252), and Uvalde ($192,914) all come in meaningfully cheaper, and at lower price points the math on rent-to-price improves even if rents are also lower. Duval County at $75,098 is a different asset class entirely and probably a different risk profile. Choose Lampasas over a neighbor only if you have specific intelligence on a local value-add opportunity, a reason to believe rents will move materially above $1,340, or a long hold horizon where the modest appreciation trajectory compounds meaningfully, none of which the current numbers provide on their own.