A Texan that lives in France, invests in Texas

A Texan that lives in France, invests in Texas

Software Engineer · Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 5 votes

Hi everyone! I'm glad to finally be a part of this great community! A bit of my background: I'm a software engineer and tech entrepreneur that spends most of my time writing Ruby on Rails applications. Some folks might think of this as "website development" but that's like saying a landlord is a lawn-care manager, it's part of the scope of work, but it isn't the whole picture. Essentially, I make software to do all sorts of cool things over a network. I've built the system that powers the Tribeca Film Festival, I've worked for various well known startups and I'm the cofounder of an online behavioral health startup, iCouch. I suppose one of my claims to "fame" is that I was offered a job as an engineer for Twitter, but since it would have required moving to San Francisco, I reluctantly turned it down.

My wife and I live in Avignon, France with our 3 little kids. Our town is famous for being the home of the popes during the 1200s. So, we have all the delights of living inside of a walled city (including some streets wide enough for nothing more than a goat-cart or these days, a bicycle or fully-loaded stroller.

We're interested in primarily multifamily in Texas. Anyway, if anyone wants to chat, feel free to drop me a line!

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Specialist · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2015 · 909 posts · 297 votes
11y

This is a great place to start @Brian Dear 

I specialize in Marketing, Acquisitions, and Deal analytics so if you have any questions feel free to reach out

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  • Investor · Mapleton, UT · Member since 2014 · 52 posts · 11 votes
    11y

    Bienvenue a "BiggerPockets"! What part of France are you in?

  • Software Engineer · Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 5 votes
    11y

    Hi Rob, I'm in Provence. The town of Avignon specifically. 

    My "roots" are Houston, Texas, but we have a pretty decent setup here in terms of life (especially with the little kids.) The French real estate market is ripe, especially with only 2% interest rates, however we're focusing on the Texas market for now until we can accumulate enough capital to make some deals here.

    With the dollar/euro exchange rate improving (for those with USD,) it's an excellent time to explore European real estate, but some disadvantages include really high transaction costs (for example, a "Notaire" is required for all property sales and that typically costs 8% of the sales price. So combing that, with the 20-25% down payment requirements, it can be somewhat tough to get into good deals. That being said, the market is a buyers market so it's possible to negotiate, sometimes significantly. Property management works similar as the US, so it's not difficult to run your properties without having to interface directly with tenants.

    Since we're newer investors, we're sticking with Texas for now until we get more confident in deal analysis!

    Anyway, nice to meet you @Rob Green!

  • Professional · Cypress, TX · Member since 2015 · 309 posts · 17 votes
    11y

    Hi @Brian Dear, I'm a Realtor/Insurance Agent in the Houston area. If you ever need help with something, just let me know.

  • Software Engineer · Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 5 votes
    11y

    Hey @Ray A. that's awesome to know! I have a commercial broker in San Antonio; we're a few days away from getting a contract on a 28 unit apartment building in that area, however, we're also going to be looking for stuff in Houston as well since that's a market I know reasonably well. We'll hopefully soon be looking for some 4+ unit rehabs in Houston, so I'll be certain to get in touch when we start that process. 

  • Professional · Cypress, TX · Member since 2015 · 309 posts · 17 votes
    11y

    @Brian Dear, I know of a 40-Unit, and also a good lot in EaDo (East Downtown, which in case you didn't know is pretty hot right now.) for Commercial or a few townhomes.

  • Specialist · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2015 · 909 posts · 297 votes
    11y

    This is a great place to start @Brian Dear 

    I specialize in Marketing, Acquisitions, and Deal analytics so if you have any questions feel free to reach out

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