Could apartment-to-condo conversion help make $100K homeownership in the McAllen metro more affordable? One investor says yes.

The Rio Grande Valley has long been lauded as an affordable single-family home market, with typical two- to three-bedroom houses and a yard available for anywhere between $100,000 and $150,000 about a decade ago. Now it’s closer to $250,000 for the same housing stock. 

The median household income has not increased nearly as rapidly as the average single-family home for sale on the market in the same condition – not even with any repairs or investment. 

That’s why J19 Investments, run by Austin-native Michael Oberrender, a self-described alternative investment firm, is betting on apartment-to-condo conversions in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area. 

An alternative investment firm collects money from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals and invests it in real estate strategies such as apartment-to-condo conversions in growing markets for higher-than-average returns.