Faro Labs / Markets / Pasadena, TX
Pasadena real estate investment market
What a typical rental in Pasadena, 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 Pasadena rental runs $231 short each month, and home values moved −3.7% 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 Pasadena, from a weak buy to a strong one. The market-rate deal is $220,044; a good buy is $198,040 and a great one $176,035 roughly 20% below market value. Those are the bars a specific listing gets measured against when you run it.
How Pasadena compares
Of the 210 markets Faro publishes, Pasadena is the 182nd most expensive to buy into: 45% below the median covered market, and the 21st strongest on rent-to-price. Within Texas it's the 22nd priciest of 27 markets we cover. On the last year of home-value change it ranks 189th.
To break even at the default financing, a typical Pasadena property would need about $1,794 a month in rent: $285 more than the $1,509 the market currently supports.
What each tier costs in Pasadena
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 | $242,048 | $1,434/mo | +10% |
| Fair buy | $231,046 | $1,479/mo | +5% |
| Market rate | $220,044 | $1,509/mo | — |
| Good buy | $198,040 | $1,584/mo | -10% |
| Great buy | $176,035 | $1,660/mo | -20% |
A typical Pasadena deal, underwritten
The market-rate property above, run through the same engine every Faro report uses.
| Purchase price | $220,044 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $1,509 |
| Cash required (20% down + 3% closing) | $50,610 |
| Net operating income | $10,926/yr |
| Monthly cash flow | -$231 |
| Cap rate | 5.0% |
| Cash-on-cash return | −5.5% |
| DSCR | 0.80 |
Values are falling here
Home values in Pasadena moved 3.7% DOWN over the last year, measured as the median across 5 ZIP codes. That reverses the usual argument for a low-cash-flow buy: there's no appreciation currently carrying the deal, so a property here has to earn its keep on rent, and a typical one produces a $231 monthly shortfall. Falling values also mean today's comp-supported price is a moving target. The discount you negotiate matters more than usual.
One of the cheapest ways in
At $220,044, a typical Pasadena property costs 44.6% less than the median market Faro covers: 182th most expensive of 210. Cash required at 20% down plus closing is about $50,610, 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.
What it would take to break even
A typical Pasadena property would need about $1,794 a month to cover itself at the default financing: 19% above the $1,509 the market currently supports. That gap is the honest size of the problem: it isn't closed by trimming an expense line, it's closed by buying meaningfully below market, putting more down, or finding a property that rents well above its market's median.
Pasadena investor questions
Is Pasadena a good place to buy rental property?
A typical Pasadena rental at $220,044 renting for $1,509 a month returns 5.0% on a cap-rate basis and runs short by $231 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 Pasadena?
Not at the market's own price and rent. A typical property runs $231 short each month. It would need about $1,794 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.
Are Pasadena home prices dropping?
Yes: values moved down 3.7% over the last year, taken as the median across 5 ZIP codes in the city. That makes the price you negotiate matter more than usual, since the comp-supported value you're measuring against is itself moving.
How much do you need to buy a rental in Pasadena?
About $50,610 at 20% down plus 3% closing on a typical $220,044 property: one of the lower entry points among the 210 markets covered here.
Other Texas markets
Run the numbers yourself
A market average is not a deal.
Paste a real Pasadena 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.