Moving to Austin Texas | How to do it right

Moving to a new city can be exciting and scary all the same time. So, if you’re considering moving to Austin, I’ve got six steps that will make your move super simple and relieve much of the stress. And we’re getting started right now.

I’m Tiffany Moore. I’m a realtor right here in Austin, Texas. I get calls almost every day from people thinking about moving to Austin, Texas, and I absolutely love it. I love living here. I love helping people find their dream home. So if you’re thinking about moving here, contact me. I’ve got your back when you’re moving to Austin.

Moving to Austin doesn’t have to be stressful. So, let’s jump into the six steps you must take to make your move super simple and take as much stress out of it as possible. First, reach out to me. I love talking to people who are thinking about moving to Austin. I’ve got folks I’ve been talking to for six months, nine months, even more than a year. I always tell people that the sooner you can reach out, the better. So we can start figuring out what you want and putting together a plan. So we can pull the trigger when the time is right.

My husband, Dave, and I moved to Austin eight years ago. While we had visited many times and were familiar with the neighborhoods, it would’ve been beneficial to talk to someone who lives here, who knows the neighborhoods, who knows what areas to avoid based on our preferences. We did a lot of research online, but having someone like boots on the ground, your eyes and ears, would’ve been so much easier and just simplified the process.

So that’s what my job is. I’m gonna make sure that when you come here, you have your expectations set up: you know which neighborhoods to look at and can hit the ground running.

So, if you’re thinking about moving, the first thing to do, even if you’re moving like a year out, is get in touch with me so we can start putting together a plan right now, the first time we talk.

I really like doing a Zoom call for a couple reasons. I prefer to meet with you in person, but the way the world is now is not always possible. You might not be visiting Austin soon, but if you are, I would love to meet you for a coffee or for a beverage or a walk around the park, just so we can get to know each other a little bit better, and I can really find out what is the heartbeat behind your move.

So, in person, number one, I love a Zoom call if we can’t do that. Seeing each other face to face really helps me get to know you better, what you love, and what’s important to you.

And then, while we’re on the call, I can share my screen with you and show you in real-time the neighborhoods in Austin that I think you’ll like based on your preferences, your price range, how close you wanna be to the city, your commute from work, all that good stuff. You can break it down and see live and in person what the different areas and neighborhoods you’re thinking about living in.

People like having that visual in front of them so they can see where everything is in location to each other. When it comes to living in Austin or getting around the different suburbs and neighborhoods, having that visual helps make it more concrete and not so overwhelming and nebulous. I’ve definitely gotten positive feedback from that.

So, if you want to set up a Zoom call, click this link. It’s a link to my calendar. Go ahead and pick the time that works best for you, and we can start talking about your move to Austin, what it would look like, set some expectations, and go through the process from there.

The second step to moving to Austin is narrowing down your search. So when we talk, I want to find out what’s important to you about this move. Moving to a new city is a big deal, and I wanna know why this is so important to you that you’re willing to uproot your family, upend your routine

and everything that you’re used to, to move to Austin.

I’m talking about more than how many bedrooms do you want. More than how many bathrooms you want. I want to discover why this move is essential to you and your family. How is it gonna change your life? How is it gonna make things better for you? I want to find out the heartbeat behind your move.

This is the most fulfilling part of my job. So, if my job were opening doors for people and sending you emails, it wouldn’t be that awesome. I probably wouldn’t be doing it for very long. The thing that I get the most out of my job is helping people be happy and live the life that they

want and realize their dreams.

Your home has such a significant role in the life that you lead and how happy you are. So whatever I can do to make your life better, to help you realize your goals and your dreams, that’s where I get fulfillment out of my job. I want to know how this will change your life and make your life even better.

The Austin-Round Rock Metro area is huge. There are like 2 million people living here. That’s a lot of houses to pick from, but the good news is, we will only be looking at some of those. Instead, once I find out what you want, where you’re gonna work, how this move will change your life, and your goals for getting into your new home.

We can narrow your search down to a few zip codes, even a few neighborhoods beyond that. And then we’re finding that instead of looking at hundreds of homes, we’re only looking at five or six homes on the market at any given time that meets your needs.

So it really takes a lot of the overwhelm out of, okay, moving to Austin, where in the hell do I go? We’ll bring it down to a few houses that will be what you’re looking for and meet your and your family’s needs.

So, step number three is building out your custom home search. We talked to each other and got to know each other. I know what’s the heartbeat behind your move. Now, we’re gonna start looking at homes. So I’m gonna send you houses that meet the criteria you’re looking for and will help you live the life you want. And I need you to look at them keenly and tell me what you like and don’t like.

And I don’t want you to worry about hurting my feelings or, you know, not liking any of the homes that I’m sending you. That is totally fine. We’re doing this so you can weed through everything online. When it’s time to look at homes in person, we can narrow it down to those five or six homes that will be perfect for you and your family.

So the fourth step is setting up your trip to Austin, whether it is, “Hey, we’re just coming down here to check it out, look at the neighborhoods, and get a feel for things,” or if it’s a house hunting trip. We’re coming down with our checkbook and must get a house before leaving.

Either one of those, I am super excited to welcome you to Austin. We’ll set expectations for you so you know where we’re going and what we’re looking at. You’ll hit the ground running when you get here and feel like a local.

I know many of these trips are tacked onto a work trip. You may be coming to meet the boss or your new coworkers or check out the office, or you might just be coming down for a visit with friends or to check out the city. Either way, I know that you don’t want to, and don’t have time to, spend eight hours a day for seven days in a row with me checking out houses in Austin. So, for the time that you are available, I am here for you 100% to make sure that we pack as much information and as much value into your time as possible so that we can either make an offer on a house while you’re here or, when you go back home, if you’re still looking at houses, you have an excellent idea of the neighborhoods that you like – of the style that you’re looking for. Um, the things that you wanna be close to or don’t wanna be close to, and you feel so much better about making an offer from a distance.

If you are going to continue your home search, once you get back to wherever you live right now, I will be your eyes, ears, and nose on the ground in Austin. What I mean by that is if you see a home that you’re really interested in and you want me to check it out for you, we’re gonna get on a live FaceTime, and I’m gonna get out there in a car and tell you what it sounds like, what it smells like, what it looks like, what do cars on the street look like. Everything that you need to know as if you were here in person. My job is to relay all of that to you.

So, if we can get on a live FaceTime call, that would be excellent. If you can’t do it live but need me to record a video for you, I can do that, too, but I want you to know that you don’t have to find a home for the three or four days that you’re in Austin. We can continue this search a little bit later on down the road. If that’s the timing that works for you.

The fifth step in moving to Austin is getting your financing lined up. So, if you borrow money for any portion of your home purchase, you’ll want to get a pre-qualification letter from a lender that says you’re qualified up to X amount for purchasing a home. No seller will take your offer seriously if you don’t have that letter.

The Austin market is so competitive and moving fast right now that if we go and look at a home, you love it, and we write an offer, but then we have to wait to get your pre-qualification letter in, you might lose that house.

Many houses are receiving multiple offers, and the sellers are putting in a deadline for accepting submissions. And if we don’t have that letter in, it doesn’t even make sense to put in an offer because you’re 100% not gonna get it.

So getting that pre-qualification letter in before we even look at homes to buy is super important. As a side note, I recommend using a local lender for your home mortgage versus a big bank like Wells Fargo or Bank of America.

I’ve had experiences with both. And I can tell you, by and large, you need to use a local lender. Sellers know the local lenders. The listing agents know the local lenders. These people have personal reputations within the community. Their work speaks for itself. We know the folks who communicate well, are timely in their closings, and do an overall good job making sure everything runs smoothly.

I have not had that experience with any of the big banks that have been financing a transaction that I’m on, whether on the buying or selling sides.

Something else to remember is that I mentioned how competitive the Austin market is. Listing agents are going to compare every single aspect of your offer. So if your offer is the same as someone else’s and you’ve got your lending through a local lender who’s earned an outstanding reputation in this city, that’s gonna give you an edge over someone who is getting financing from a Bank of America.

Something else to note is a lot of these negotiations take place on the weekends after hours. I have never experienced a big bank calling me back, returning my texts or emails at nine o’clock at night on a Saturday when I’m trying to negotiate for you. But the local lenders that we work with know how crazy and competitive the market is, and they are on the spot helping me out when you need to finalize some details or answer some last-minute questions to get your offer approved.

So, if you need a referral for a local lender, I’ve got a handful of people I love working with. I’m happy to share that with you, but wherever you buy a home, whether it’s in Austin or somewhere else, you need to go with a local lender versus a big bank.

And the sixth step of moving to Austin is me guiding you through the entire process. So my job is to keep the lines of communication open, to make sure we set clear expectations to help you make the best decision for you and your family based on what you’ve shared with me, based on what you’ve told me, what your dreams are, what you’re looking for and to help you not get wrapped up in shiny object syndrome and really focus on what it is you want. What’s the heartbeat behind this move and ensuring we realize your dreams.

I work really closely with all of the other parties that are involved in your home purchase. Like your lender, the title company, the inspector, the repair people, and everyone involved. I am the center of this wheel, and I have all these spokes going out and ensuring everything runs smoothly.

A lot is going on when you’re moving to a new city. And I know that buying your home is not the only thing you have to worry about, nor do you want to think about this 24 hours a day before moving. So, my job is to take that stress off your plate and put it onto my shoulders.

So you can get back to thinking about, you know, switching schools for your kids, packing up the house, saying goodbye to your friends, getting new doctors, getting your car registration set up, all the other stuff.

Let me handle all the details for the purchase of this new home. And you can get back to everything that needs to be taken care of for your move.

And if you own a home where you’re at right now and you need to sell it, I have an awesome referral network. I know folks all around the country. So, if you need a referral for an outstanding agent who’s gonna take care of you like I am, just let me know. I’m happy to send you some

names of some incredible people.

I want to give you all the necessary resources to make this move as simple and stress-free as possible. So, for me to do that, you just have to start with step number one, which is to reach out to me.