Live Oak County

Live Oak County sits at a median home price of $220,133, down fractionally year-over-year (negative 0.76%), with an affordability index of 83, which signals pricing that remains accessible relative to income. The county ranks 426th out of 1,000 nationally (46th percentile) and 76th out of 243 Texas counties. The cash flow score is zero, which is the number that dominates the analysis: without rent and expense data populated, a formal cap rate and cash-on-cash return cannot be calculated, but the missing figures are themselves informative, suggesting this is not a market with an obvious, well-documented cash flow profile that draws attention from yield hunters. The appreciation score of 46 is below average, and with prices slightly negative on a year-over-year basis, Live Oak is not offering compelling price momentum either. This is a market that sits in a middle zone, neither a reliable income producer nor a clear appreciation play, which is exactly the kind of county that rewards patient, disciplined underwriting over enthusiasm.

The investor this market suits best is a value-add operator or a small-scale landlord who can buy well below the $220,133 median and manufacture yield through renovation or repositioning, since neither the cash flow score nor the appreciation trajectory provides a passive tailwind. An affordability index of 83 means the purchase price is meaningfully below what many comparable Texas markets demand, which gives a cost-basis advantage, but that advantage only converts to returns if rents are being pushed by local demand or if the buyer is acquiring distressed assets at a discount to the median. A pure appreciation buyer has little numerical support here: a stability score of 50 and flat-to-declining prices argue against parking capital and waiting. A traditional cash flow buyer should run complete pro formas with local rent comps before committing, because the data provided does not support a confident yield conclusion.

No economic anchor data was provided for Live Oak County, so employer-specific demand drivers cannot be addressed. What the population figure of 11,374 does confirm is that this is a small, thinly traded market. Thin markets cut both ways: acquisition prices can be negotiated more aggressively, but exit liquidity is limited, buyer pools are shallow, and a single large employer shift or demographic movement can swing vacancy meaningfully. Investors who prefer to buy in markets with deep rental demand pools and multiple economic drivers will find Live Oak's scale a constraint worth pricing into their underwriting assumptions.

The tax and insurance picture deserves serious attention. At a state-average effective property tax rate of 1.80%, Texas's property tax burden is high enough to deserve its own line on every underwrite, and the data flags this explicitly. On a $220,133 purchase, annual property taxes run approximately $3,962 and annual insurance runs $1,101, combining to $422 per month in carry costs before debt service, maintenance, management, or vacancy reserves. At a 6.85% interest rate on an 80% loan-to-value mortgage, the financing cost alone is substantial, so this $422 monthly tax-and-insurance load is not a rounding error; it can be the difference between a property that pencils and one that doesn't. The rate cited is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual Live Oak County or township rates may differ, so pulling the county assessor's rate before closing is non-negotiable.

The primary risks here are concentration and liquidity. A county of 11,374 people has limited diversification against any single economic shock, and the combination of a zero cash flow score and a below-average appreciation score means there is no obvious margin-of-safety narrative from either income or price growth. Regulatory risk is not flagged by the available data, so it cannot be cited as a specific concern, but investors accustomed to larger metros should account for the fact that smaller Texas counties can have less standardized landlord-tenant infrastructure, which adds operational friction.

Compared to its neighbors, Live Oak sits at $220,133, above both Hutchinson County ($114,329) and Duval County ($75,098) and below Hamilton ($260,560) and Robertson ($259,047) counties, all of which share the same overall score of 58 or 56. Victoria County is the most analytically comparable neighbor, carrying a median price of $211,088, a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0639, and the same overall score of 58. Victoria's visible rent-to-price ratio gives an investor something concrete to underwrite against, and its marginally lower price point with documented rent data makes it a more transparent starting point for a cash flow analysis. An investor should choose Live Oak over its neighbors only if they have hyper-local knowledge of a specific submarket or property type where rents are demonstrably supportive, or if they are acquiring well below the county median where the math works independently of market-level trends. Without that edge, Victoria County's available rent data and comparable pricing make it the easier market to underwrite with confidence.