Home From Home
Kevin’s first day in Texas is hot and sunny, not like what he’s used to, living in notoriously rainy London. The hotel staff, however, seem to take it for granted. But this is unsurprising when you consider that it’s hot and sunny over 200 days a year here. Soon Kevin is being driven to Georgetown, a suburb north of Austin. Here Sebastian introduces Kevin to Amy, a realtor, who explains to him everything she knows about renting and buying condominiums, apartments, ranches, and houses.
They talk about the differences in each type of property and how easy they are to find on the market. Amy explains the importance of working out what your budget is beforehand and how, as a foreigner, securing a mortgage can prove to be somewhat difficult.
With so many different options to choose from, depending on the lifestyle you’re after and the budget that you have, it begins to become obvious why Texas is such an attractive place to move to.
“Sometimes, the other spouse's expectations are very different from what the husband or wife expects.”
-Amy Edwards
Time Stamps:
1:08 - What a realtor is and how they give a higher quality of service than real estate agents do.
2:42 - How real estate works differently in Texas compared to Europe.
5:11 - How realistic it is to buy a ranch with livestock and the amount of space that there is in Texas.
6:26 - The process you need to go through when looking for property in Texas.
7:20 - The cost of buying property in Texas and the kind of budget you’ll need.
9:00 - The difference in lifestyle when making the move over the pond.
11:52 - The importance of talking to the whole family about what kind of property you’re looking for.
15:15 - How many properties you can see in a day when visiting America.
16:25 - What the next stage is after you’ve found the property that you want.
18:40 - What the barriers of entry are when coming from Europe to buy a property in the US.
Resources:
Connect with Kevin Turley: Website
Connect with Sebastian Sauerborn: LinkedIn
Connect with Amy Edwards:
Episode Transcript
Episode 4: Home from Home
You are dressed like a Texas cowboy, you’ve got the boots, you’ve got the blue jeans, and you’ve got the Country shirt and the cowboy hat, and the belt is so big Elvis would have been proud of it
You’re listening to ‘Move your business the United States’ with me your host Kevin Turley
Sebastian: Now, I would say most clients initially, when they come here, they would look for like rentals; like executive homes, like I did, and before they buy something, you know, and then if they decide to stay here, they would rather buy something.
This morning Sebastian is driving me to Georgetown about ten miles north of Austin, and there he’s going to introduce me to Amy Edwards; she’s a realtor, in fact, she’s the realtor that helped move Sebastian from Europe to Texas
Because this podcast is about meeting people on the inside, and Amy is definitely on the inside of real estate in Texas.
Kevin: Now first of all you Amy, what’s a realtor?
Amy: In Texas there’s… you can be a real estate agent or a realtor, to have the designation of realtor you have to be a member of the National Association of Realtors; if you don’t join that you’re just a real estate agent.
It’s not a big deal you just get a lot more credibility if you actually join and participate in the national organizations.
Kevin: But it also probably has something to do with the quality of the service.
Amy: Absolutely, so to become a realtor in Texas you have to take 180 hours of classroom courses or you can do it online, it is proctored exams, you have to pass each section of 30 hours to move to the next section; once you pass all 180 hours you take a final exam which includes state questions and national realtor questions, once you pass that then you get your little piece of paper that says you’re licensed and then you find a place to hang your shingle.
Kevin: You know Sebastian professionally, is that right Sebastian?
Sebastian: Yeah, when I moved back to the United States in 2016, actually, Amy was the one who helped me to find the house that I rented here in Georgetown.
Kevin: Really?
Sebastian: Yes, the process went very smoothly, and Amy was very professional and I was very pleased with her system, so I thought she would be someone who I would love to introduce to our clients.
Kevin: That’s great, so we have an expert here.
Sebastian: Oh, totally!
Kevin: In fact, we’ve got two experts; we’ve got you, we’ve got Amy and then we’ve got me. [laughter]
Okay, so Amy, coming from Europe to Texas, it’s a different world, right?
Amy: Yes, very different.
Kevin: Talk me a little bit through how real estate works in this metropolitan area; I mean do people live in apartments? Do they live in houses? Do they live in -what’s that word- condominiums? What is a condominium?
Amy: We have ranches, we have condominiums [laughter]
Kevin: Talk me through, I mean, now listen, as a European coming here what are your options to live in?
Amy: So, in the Austin area -Metroplex- which is the larger area around Georgetown, there are a lot of apartment complexes, there are a lot of condominiums.
Condominiums are like apartments, but they’re generally owned as opposed to rented; you can rent a condo, condominiums, as opposed to apartments, there’s an association that is part of the Association, you pay into every month and they cover things like the exterior of the building but as far as the owner if you buy a condo you’re buying from the sheetrock and you’re responsible from the sheetrock in.
Kevin: Sheetrock?
Amy: The walls.
Kevin: Oh, the walls, okay good
Sebastian: It’s plaster board. [laughter]
Amy: So, anything outside that is the condo association and then anything inside and your personal property, is personal property.
There’re rental homes that are single-family homes just like, you know, if you would buy a single-family home, they rented a single-family home.
Kevin: Okay, so Sebastian, what did you start with when you came to Texas?
Sebastian: When I moved to Texas originally, in 2011, I bought a ranch here you know.
Kevin: So, you started at the top.
Sebastian: Yeah, I bought a ranch and a bathtub, when I came back in 2016, I was looking for a rental property straight away in the Austin area.
Kevin: So, condominiums and apartments you’ve explained nicely, are there a lot of houses? because in Europe we still have houses, do people live with like two-three open to dine and a garden at the back?
Amy: Absolutely, we have a lot of houses available; in fact, in July alone in the Austin area 3000 single-family homes were purchased/sold in in Austin area, in Williamson County, a thousand, so that’s just in one month, so that gives you an idea there are plenty available, there’s builders building like crazy right now.
Kevin: So, we’ve got houses, we’ve got condominiums, got apartments -we call them flats but apartments- and then you’ve got large ranches… Now is this for real? I mean do people actually buy ranches? I know Sebastian says he did, but he told me h bought a ranch. Can people really buy ranches for like horses and cattle and…? [laughter]
Amy: Yes, you can buy what they refer to in Texas, is a gentleman’s ranch; which is usually ten acres and under, maybe 15 up to hundreds of acres of property that either has a house on it or you could build a house or just put livestock on or the combination of the two.
Kevin: And just in this area, would you have ranches within distance of here?
Amy: Yes.
Kevin: Really?
Amy: Absolutely.
Sebastian: Sure, I mean you know my ranch was in Bastrop that’s like 30 miles southeast of Austin, so it’s very common here for families who like horses who like animals to buy a few acres you know and build a ranch.
Kevin: Am I correct in thinking that there’s a lot of space around Austin.
Amy: There is a lot of space; it’s becoming more scarce in Austin specifically that’s why a lot of the families and newcomers to the area are moving outside of the Metroplex and because you’re getting kind of landlocked in, in Austin area specifically.
But here in Georgetown, there’s still ranches that are available in Georgetown, there’s still ranches that are available in Hutto which is a little further east of here, Florence, you know, there’s large properties.
Kevin: So, I’m sitting in somewhere in Europe and I’m think moving my family to Austin Texas, so, Sebastian gives me your number, I give you a ring or I email you or whatever, Skype you and say “Amy help”
What’s the process?
Amy: I kind of interview you, I ask you some questions about what you’re looking for, what’s important to you and your family.
Kevin: That’s good.
Amy: Do you need space? Do you have livestock that you’re bringing that you want to purchase? Do you have children? What ages are your children? And what they got used to going to a public school or a private school? To kind of get an idea of what your needs are, and then ask what your budget is?
Because there’s a very vast range of prices here…
Kevin: Amy I’m glad you brought it up, let’s just talk.
And this is 2018 for anybody listening in the distant future, but just give me a rough idea, I mean really rough figures you know…
I mean okay I want to buy an apartment you know one of those nice apartment blocks looking over the Lady Bird… is it Lady Bird Lake…?
Amy: Do you have a million dollars?
Kevin: Not on me [laughter]
It’s a million plus type is that what you’re looking at?
Amy: If you’re overlooking the town lake in Austin and you’ve got a view like that, if you’re getting a one-bedroom condo that you’re buying it could be anywhere from 500.000 on up.
Kevin: Really?
Amy: If you get a not-so-nice one it could be lower than that, but if you’re in that area with a view you’re going to pay, you’re going to pay for it.
[Music]
The suburbs almost as much written about as Madison Avenue, and just as much in need of reflection
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Thanks for listening
Kevin: Part of this podcast in this journey that Sebastian’s taking me on is about lifestyle, okay?
And the move from Europe to America is a lifestyle choice and you must have picked up on this, presumably, Sebastian you explain that to Amy, what’s your lifestyle you wanted when you came over here?
Sebastian: Oh yeah, totally, I mean for me it was very important to have a big property and so, because I wanted to have plenty of space for my kids to run.
So the property that I rented I think was on one or two acres, a big plot you know so you are not too close to neighbors and everything, and we looked at a few properties here, I mean, I remember say, we looked at one property in Florence which was like a Tuscan villa, you know, that sort of thing…
Kevin: Really?!
Amy: Yeah, which was actually in a vineyard.
Sebastian: It looks like in Tuscany, incredible, but it was then unfortunately no longer available, well unfortunately, at the end of this house, it’s just well for us.
So, that was my thing, I want to have a big garden, you know big yard, big property and so that was my request to Amy…
Kevin: So, Amy is it right that in some ways your discussion with somebody at the very outset is working on what the lifestyle is to fit the type of property; is that the kind of thing you’re trying to discern?
Amy: Yes, I mean you had mentioned earlier there’s differences in different cultures and different countries, and so, I try to get an idea of what their expectations are, what are my client’s expectations are.
If you have a larger budget and the sky’s the limit…
Sebastian: As a good example of the house that I rented in 2016, which I would call an executive home; is that the right description?
Amy: Yes.
Kevin: Could you sort of describe that for the listener?
Sebastian: Yeah, so the house that I rented was a five-bedroom house…
Kevin: Detached in its own grounds…
Sebastian: Detached in very large… I mean, kind of we’re talking about suburbs or very large property for a suburb, so I think it was two acres as far as I remember.
Kevin: How many miles from downtown?
Sebastian: From downtown Georgetown, probably 10 miles.
So, it’s quite a drive, I mean, it’s a 20-minute drive right, and then it had two floors and I mean the whole… the overall square footage, I think, was around 4000 square feet, so rather large.
Kevin: And is it on different levels?
Sebastian: 2 levels.
And so, for that house, I mean very nice, you know, very nice finish, very nice kitchen.
And for that house, I remember the monthly lease was 3300$.
How much would that be now Amy? Is it about the same?
Amy: It stayed about the same here in Georgetown, if you were renting that same size house, you probably can get two acres in Austin, but it’s even that’s the same size house in Austin it would probably be 5000$ or more a month.
Kevin: What’s that in pounds?
Sebastian: That’s 4000 pounds.
Kevin: 4000 pounds That’s a lot of money still but anyway that’s the sort of thing.
Now, Sebastian hinted at something there which is obviously to the four in this podcast, which is around that when people decide to move businesses and continent, sorry, businesses from one continent to another, they’re also moving families and they’re also moving lifestyles.
And we talked about that and presumably it’s preferable to talk to both husband and wife or even children -I don’t know- I mean did you talk to the whole family to get an idea of what everybody’s expectations?
Amy: Yes, because sometimes it’s very different from what the husband expects and what the wife expects.
I have families that will come in from out of state even that the husband comes on over here for business and he’s on the scouting mission -if you will- to kind of scout the area and he says “well we want this this and this” and then all of a sudden, the wife comes in two weeks later and her ideas are completely different, so…
Kevin: I am sure that’s not unusual. [laughter]
Amy: No, it’s not, it’s very… it is unusual if they are both on the same page all the time [laughter]
So, what I try to do is… I don’t like to deal with just one spouse or the other or one partner or the other and if there are kids involved, it’s nice to have the kids too, because you’ll see -not that there are the decision-makers- but you’ll see that they do kind of run the dynamic…
Kevin: But they definitely have an input don’t they, if only in persuading…
I mean, presumably, Sebastian your children had some input when you were buying the ranch, for example, you’ve said just now that you wanted your children to be able to play in a large square or sort of yard or whatever they call them over here, gardens.
Sebastian: Yeah, whereas the ranch is no longer a garden right [laughter]
No, no but definitely… I mean children definitely have an input, my children loved Georgetown, you know, loved this area.
The schools here are very good when comparing them to Austin where they’re not so good necessarily.
Kevin: So okay, European business man contacted you, he’s a rough idea what the budget is – which is very important- work out your budget that should be the first thing, then go through what they think they want with you with all the parties concerned, they’ve done all that, and they’re still coming right and you send them presumably some details of a suitable property and they say “yep that’s great, I mean, I’ll have that”
What happens then?
Amy: Well, generally, we send more than one property and here there’s a service called the Multiple Listing Service and if a rental property or a purchased property is listed in the MLS, I can set up a search that I can send via email and you tell me your parameters and I set up the search and you can look online at the pictures -if there’s pictures posted- you can look at what it costs, what the size is if there’s a yard or garden or acreage or anything like that.
And we start kind of broad and then they will tell me “I like this one, I don’t like this one, let’s look at this one, don’t want to see that one” and so we set a plan before they even come, of what we want to kind of focus on.
Kevin: So, just on that, let’s say somebody’s coming all the way from Europe and they’re serious about moving here, maybe, Sebastian was in this boat and let’s say, they’re coming for a few days to Austin; husband, wife and the kids have been looked after.
Would you set up multiple viewings then, to give them an idea within the parameters?
Amy: Absolutely.
Sebastian: I have to say, you know, that Amy is incredibly dedicated, so I know, and we looked at houses, we drove around for hours, you have to imagine these are long distances here, you know, it’s just one viewing 20 minutes from here, look at the house for 20 minutes, then come back you know for 20 minutes, just for one viewing.
When we went out to another property in Florence which is even further out you know.
Kevin: So, Amy let’s say, I’m coming for this intensive European look around, how many properties could I see in a day realistically? Is it three, four, five?
Amy: Realistically, you could probably see seven or eight, you would be exhausted, but if it’s necessary that’s what we do.
Kevin: And you go with them and you take everybody everywhere?
Amy: Absolutely, it depends, like with Sebastian and his family, we couldn’t all fit in my vehicle, so they followed me, but if there’s just a husband and wife, or two partners, or you know a small family we can get in my truck, yes, I have a truck, or my Subaru and we can drive around or if they’re more comfortable following, they can follow me.
We set a schedule, I try to schedule enough time where we could be at each property 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the property and then, some drive time between and try to… Some of the properties are vacant, some are occupied, and some, we have to have appointments for and have to stick with the schedule.
Kevin: Okay, so this is comforting because this sounds like property searches the world over, you go around with the estate agent in London and you look at multiple properties…
Okay, so we do all that and we come across property and we think “yeah, we’ll have that”
What happens next?
Amy: If you’re renting the property there’s a rental application, we fill out a rental application and they’ll ask for your whole life; first born child, you’ll have to provide income information, employment background check, credit history that kind of thing.
Kevin: I could feel a sort of slight headache coming on because this is the same in the world over; anybody’s renting anywhere these days, you literally have to have fingerprints and all sorts of things.
But you know that a lot of the people listening to this podcast -and presumably, Sebastian, you in this realm as well- a lot of them are going to be entrepreneurs okay?
They’re going to have a fractured history because they’ve been in startups and maybe they’ve been very successful, but you know it’s taken a while…
Do you know how to help them navigate that?
Amy: Yes, it can be, it can be a challenge and depending on who the listing agent is for the property or the property management company on the other side, what their criteria are, they may require a slightly larger deposit, they may require more of a verification process, they may want double deposit instead of say if the deposit was one month rent, they maybe want two month rent deposit.
And then, they will do their background checks, some of them will absolutely, just they’re very cut and dry, they don’t allow if you don’t have more than two years of consistent income at one place and you know…
But my job is to figure that out as well and when we’re looking at the properties before even, you can go and contact property management companies and say “here’s my possibility; I have a client that will be, you know, self-employed and has income to support this, but it won’t be your standard two years of…”
Kevin: I mean again, this is for Europeans coming to America, is that ever a problem, when you’ve got somebody coming from another jurisdiction, a foreign jurisdiction?
Amy: It can be, I have not run into a situation where I couldn’t get someone in a rental or a house…
Sebastian: But I mean Kevin there’s, of course, a massive problem, you know, for someone who wanted to buy a property, I mean, I would say in almost all cases that’s impossible for them to get a mortgage.
Kevin: Why can’t Europeans just come here and buy property?
Amy: Well, there’s a couple of reasons; one if you’re coming as an entrepreneur and you don’t have cash just to throw at a property, you have to get a mortgage, and the mortgage process, they do look at… They want two years of consecutive income, and the same type of industry and they look at your debt to income ratio, that kind of thing.
Also, you’ve got the “you’re not a citizen here” you’ve got to buy a property as a foreign entity, so, there’s another paperwork that goes on with that.
Sebastian: And the basic issue for most people is when they come to me, they don’t have a credit score.
Amy: And they don’t have a credit score here yet.
Sebastian: So, that’s a big problem.
Kevin: So, let’s say then somebody’s either renting or buying, you’ve sorted all that out for them
Is that you done with them? [laughter]
Amy: No, I am not done, so say you’re going to come and rent…
We get the application in. I deal with the other side whether it’s a landlord or a property owner or a management company and we negotiate how long your lease is going to be, the terms what they need down as far as your security deposit, that kind of thing, help you get your keys to get moved in.
Kevin: And you do all that, I mean that’s really end to end service here.
Amy: Absolutely.
Kevin: So, you’re not happy until they’re sort of settled in their home?
Amy: Exactly.
Kevin: Amy thank you so much for taking the time to give us so much insight into the whole what seems complicated but actually you’ve made it look quite simple because all I have to do is pick up the phone and speak to you and you’ll take me through the whole process.
Amy: Absolutely and I would be more than honored to have anybody that you want to send my way, could give me a call if they want to continue this conversation and they didn’t get questions answered.
Kevin: Okay so how do people find you? Is it a Keller Williams Georgetown website and then follow the links?
Amy: That or I can give you my direct website; it is www.poppytowntx.com.
Or you can email me at amy@ poppytowntx.com
Or you can call me at 5 1 2 7 8 9 6 5 2 2.
Kevin: Well you can’t get more direct than that.
Amy thank you very much.
Sebastian thank you; it’s been really good.
And so, they joined the stream of family life in the suburbs, soon to become part of this familiar site, soon to absorb its familiar sounds, anybody home?
[Music]
next time on move your business to United States*
so, let’s get Kevin a cowboy hat. *
I thought it’d be like a desert you know like those western films we had desert and you have a tree house you know but it’s nothing like it no tumbleweed at all
- You’ve been listening to ‘Move your business to United States’ with me Kevin Turley . a huge thanks to my producer Emmett Glynn who produce this podcast for Mount Bonnell Media to find out more go to MountBonnell.com and remember, ‘Dream big, dream America’*
