Will my house actually cash flow as a rental in 76179?

The most common cash flow mistake in 76179: owner calculates rent minus mortgage payment and calls it monthly profit. That is not cash flow. It is gross rental income minus one line item. The real calculation subtracts everything that comes out before you see a dollar. On a typical $300K house renting for $1,950/month, the math looks like this: property management at 8 to 10% costs $156 to $195/month. Maintenance reserve at 1% of property value per year comes out to $250/month on average, though it hits unevenly: some months nothing, some months $2,000. Vacancy at a conservative 6% assumption costs $117/month. Leasing fees (typically half to one month's rent per new tenant, amortized over a two-year lease term) add another $80 to $100/month. That is $600 to $660/month in costs before your mortgage payment. Most owners are not running this number.

Use this as your working model: start with a realistic monthly rent pulled from actual MLS-leased comps in the last 90 days, same beds and baths, within a mile. Do not use Rentometer or Zillow, which both run 8% high in 76179. From that number, subtract: (1) property management fee (use 9% if you are planning to hire a manager, or estimate 5-10 hours of your time per month if you plan to self-manage), (2) maintenance reserve of 1% of current market value divided by 12, (3) vacancy allowance of 5-7% of annual rent divided by 12, (4) amortized leasing cost (half month's rent divided by 24 months), and (5) your PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance). What remains is your true monthly cash flow. If that number is under $200/month, the margin is thin enough that one surprise, like a water heater, a roof claim, or two months of vacancy, wipes out a year of profit. If it is over $400/month with the numbers run honestly, you have a case for keeping the asset.

For a typical 76179 single-family rental in the $280K to $340K range, a realistic cash-positive outcome looks like: gross rent of $1,850 to $2,050/month, all-in costs (management, maintenance, vacancy, leasing) of $550 to $680/month, leaving $1,270 to $1,370/month before your mortgage payment. If your PITI is $1,000 to $1,150/month (which assumes a sub-5% rate or meaningful equity), you land in the $200 to $350/month positive range. That is real cash flow, not exciting cash flow. The houses that cash flow meaningfully ($500/month and above) in 76179 are almost always properties with a low mortgage balance, a sub-4% rate from before 2022, or significant equity that keeps the PITI manageable. If you bought in the last three years at current rates, the margin is much tighter.

Negative or near-zero cash flow is not always a reason to sell. Some owners are comfortable holding an asset for appreciation even with break-even monthly performance. But there are three situations where the cash flow math should push you toward selling: (1) the house needs significant deferred maintenance (HVAC, roof, plumbing, or foundation work) that will consume months of cash flow before you see a return, (2) your true cash flow after all costs is under $100/month, because any single repair or vacancy period will put you negative for the year, and (3) you have strong equity and a good market, meaning the money locked in the property could work harder somewhere else. The question is not just whether the house makes money as a rental. It is whether this is the best use of $100K+ in equity.

Before you list a rental or sign a management agreement, the most important financial decision is setting aside a maintenance reserve. Most experienced landlords keep $3,000 to $5,000 in a separate account for the property, replenished as it is drawn down. If you cannot fund a reserve before you start, you are one repair away from a credit card decision. The properties that create landlord stress in year two are almost always the ones where the owner started with no reserve and then had to cover a $2,000 repair from personal funds at a bad moment. Build the reserve first, before you run the cash flow math as though everything will go right.