Faro Labs / Markets / Brownsville, TX
Brownsville real estate investment market
What a typical rental in Brownsville, Texas costs, rents for, and returns: underwritten by Faro's own engine, not a scraped summary.
Returns assume 20% down at 6.75% over 30 years, 7% vacancy, and standard operating costs: Faro's default assumptions, the same ones every report starts from. Home value and rent trends as of 2026-05-31.
Difficult for both
At market rent, a typical Brownsville rental runs $49 short each month, and home values moved 2.8% over the last year. Neither leg is carrying deals right now, which means the ones that work here are bought well below market rather than at it.
The price a deal actually works at
Faro models five price points for Brownsville, from a weak buy to a strong one. The market-rate deal is $197,292; a good buy is $177,563 and a great one $157,834 roughly 20% below market value. Those are the bars a specific listing gets measured against when you run it.
How Brownsville compares
Of the 210 markets Faro publishes, Brownsville is the 196th most expensive to buy into: 50% below the median covered market, and the 12th strongest on rent-to-price. Within Texas it's the 27th priciest of 27 markets we cover. On the last year of home-value change it ranks 30th.
To break even at the default financing, a typical Brownsville property would need about $1,609 a month in rent: $60 more than the $1,549 the market currently supports.
What each tier costs in Brownsville
Faro models five price points per market. A listing gets measured against these bars, not against a national average.
| Tier | Purchase price | Market rent | vs. market rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak buy | $217,021 | $1,472/mo | +10% |
| Fair buy | $207,157 | $1,518/mo | +5% |
| Market rate | $197,292 | $1,549/mo | — |
| Good buy | $177,563 | $1,626/mo | -10% |
| Great buy | $157,834 | $1,704/mo | -20% |
A typical Brownsville deal, underwritten
The market-rate property above, run through the same engine every Faro report uses.
| Purchase price | $197,292 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $1,549 |
| Cash required (20% down + 3% closing) | $45,377 |
| Net operating income | $11,702/yr |
| Monthly cash flow | -$49 |
| Cap rate | 5.9% |
| Cash-on-cash return | −1.3% |
| DSCR | 0.95 |
One of the cheapest ways in
At $197,292, a typical Brownsville property costs 50.3% less than the median market Faro covers: 196th most expensive of 210. Cash required at 20% down plus closing is about $45,377, which is what makes markets like this the usual starting point for a first rental. The trade is management: a cheap property is not a cheap property to run, and the fixed costs, a roof, a furnace, a turnover, are the same dollars against a much smaller rent.
Where it sits in Texas
Faro covers 27 Texas markets, and Brownsville is the 27th priciest of them at $197,292. Within a single state the tax and insurance environment is broadly shared, so the differences between these markets come down to price, rent, and pace, which makes them the most useful comparison set on this page. The nearby markets listed below are the rest of that set.
Brownsville investor questions
Is Brownsville a good place to buy rental property?
A typical Brownsville rental at $197,292 renting for $1,549 a month returns 5.9% on a cap-rate basis and runs short by $49 a month at 20% down. Individual deals vary far more than markets do, which is the whole reason to underwrite a specific address.
Can you cash-flow a rental in Brownsville?
Not at the market's own price and rent. A typical property runs $49 short each month. It would need about $1,609 in rent to break even. Deals that work here are bought below market rather than at it, which is what the price ladder above is for.
How much do you need to buy a rental in Brownsville?
About $45,377 at 20% down plus 3% closing on a typical $197,292 property: one of the lower entry points among the 210 markets covered here.
Are rents going up in Brownsville?
Rents moved up 5.6% over the last year, measured across 3 ZIP codes. The typical market-rate rental sits at $1,549 a month.
Other Texas markets
Run the numbers yourself
A market average is not a deal.
Paste a real Brownsville listing and Faro underwrites that specific property from its own comps, with a target price you can actually offer.
Estimates for analysis and educational use only: not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify every number independently before making a purchase decision.