2500 Duke Ave

McAllen, TX 78504

$221,000D

3 bd · 2.0 ba · 1,519 sqft · Built 2000 · SingleFamily · Pending · 118 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $1,947/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$1,159
• Tax + insurance: −$450
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$409
• Net cashflow: $-71/mo
• Annual: $-849/yr
• Cap rate: 5.91%
• Cash-on-cash: -1.37%
• DSCR: 0.94
• 1% rule: 0.88%
• Cash to close: $61,880

Investor read

• This is a 3-bed/2.0-bath single-family listed at $221k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-71 ($-849/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $208k (5.7% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $195k (11.9% below list).
• It's been on market 118 days — a 9% lower offer ($201k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.
• Recommended offer: $195k (11.9% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• Local home prices are declining (-3.0%/yr); year-one equity from $2k of loan paydown is wiped out by about $7k of value loss. Plan a longer hold.
• Location reads 76/100 on livability (#119 in TX, #3,771 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: cost of living A+, housing A+, health & safety A+; Watch: employment D, amenities F, commute F.
• Mcallen ISD (urban): math 34% / reading 45% proficiency, ranked #440 of 826 in TX (top 53%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Dr Pablo Perez (math 52% / reading 57%, grade C, #621 of 4,322 statewide, top 15%, 560 students, 50% FRL); Morris Middle (math 59% / reading 61%, grade B, #158 of 1,662 statewide, top 10%, 1,016 students, 52% FRL); Mcallen H S (math 30% / reading 57%, grade F, #704 of 1,632 statewide, top 43%, 2,133 students, 63% FRL) — zoned schools at 55% FRL track the district average.
• Zoned-school proficiency averages 53% at this address vs 40% district-wide (+13 pts) — the actual schools serving this property are materially stronger than the Mcallen ISD average implies; a family-tenant draw the district grade alone would hide.
• Market conditions: Rents rising (+2.6%/yr); 898 active listings in the ZIP; 39 comparable units currently listed for rent nearby; rentals lingering (median 46d on market — plan ~5-8 weeks vacancy on turnover, expect pricing pressure); 51% of comp listings sitting > 30 days — soft ceiling on asking rent; solid renter incomes; 7,378 units permitted in Hidalgo County in 2024 (641 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Hidalgo County population projected at +28% by 2050 — long-run rental-demand tailwind backs the buy-and-hold thesis.
• Climate carrying-cost: severe wind risk, 99% chance of damaging wind over 30y; extreme-heat days projected 7→22/yr by 2055 (HVAC capex compounding) — expect insurance premiums to compound above CPI over the hold.
• Cap rate 5.9% vs local median 3.7% in McAllen — top-decile yield for the area; either an underpriced asset or a hidden risk that comps aren't pricing in. Stress-test before assuming the spread holds.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• It's been on market 118 days. Have you received any prior offers? Is the seller open to a 12% concession, seller financing, or rate buy-down credit?
• Why hasn't it sold? Are there any deal-killer items the seller is aware of (foundation, flood, title, zoning, code violations)?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are B-rated — typically a magnet for longer-tenancy family renters. What's the average tenant stay here, and is there a school-zone premium baked into asking?
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.