Since the South African Goverment put expropriating land without compensation(theft)on the table recently my wife and I have decided its time to look around to see if there is a better place on the planet to raise our family.
While we have travelled fairly widely, we have never been to the USA. We both like the sound of Texas with its proud hertitage, can-do attitude, business opportunies and protection of property rights and other freedoms.

Our plan is to visit the major cities (Houston and Dallas) for a short time to gain a "feel" for the area and people. Rather than the normal tourist destinations we would like to view some of the suburbs, schools and possibly make a few business appointments.

I could hire a car or Uber around but was wondering if there are any private tour services like we have here in South Africa where a customised and flexible itinerary can be arranged? A local driver with knowledge of the area would make it far more rewarding than concentrating on google maps to try and figure out where we are going on the opposite side of the road to what we are used to (like the UK and Australia we drive on the right hand side of the road here in South Africa).

Some input from a local Texan or two would go a long way to helping us know if this is just a crazy idea or a workable plan!

Feel free to PM me if you wish or share it on the forum.

JCHB

Don't limit yourself to Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth. You also have Austin and San Antonio and lots of smaller towns/cities. What is it you are looking for and how much do you want to spend.

How about other states? Utah is very family values and business oriented. Colorado is beautiful as well.I don't live in either, but just saying. . . .

Should you decide to come to Austin, please give me a heads up and I will be happy to serve as a tour guide. I am a retired special educator so schools are a special interest of mine and being retired my time is very flexible. I have lived in Austin for the last 38 years and know it well. Please feel free to contact me . Jerry Hoover

Gentlemen
Thank you for your responses. The reason we have not looked at other states is that the US is vast and we would need to spend months travelling to see what it has to offer. My wife refuses to live anywhere that has deep snow in the winter! I'm also more of a conservative at heart so I figured that the Republican states would align more closely with my outlook.


The idea is just in the beginning stage and thus the reason for singling out Houston and Dallas. Our feeling was that there would be more opportunies there. Jerry, a kind offer like yours would be motivation to visit Austin.
Wesheltonj, I have run my own business here for 25 years in the board and cabinet supply industry. At 49 years of age I'm too young to retire so my thoughts were to look for a business where the owner was planning to retire and has no succession, leading to an opportunity to buy in,etc. I don't have a fortune in USD, but enough to participate in the green card program (500k) and to purchase a home, vehicle and send the kids to school.

But first things first, a short visit next year to put boots on the ground is the initial step as there are many hoops to jump through if it gets serious.

JCHB

If you find yourself visiting Austin, please feel free to contact me as an additional resource. It's a good place, but Austin proper gets harder to live in with each passing year (and Round Rock and Georgetown, both to the north, make more sense every day). Traffic and housing costs are out of control. Also, the average Austinite these days left California two years ago. Sure, they get points for leaving, but they still suck.

San Antonio, on the other hand, is an interesting option. There's great stuff for kids to do (museums, zoo, amusement parks, etc.), a professional sports team that the whole town loves (Spurs basketball), and the state's best hunting and fishing can be reached in two hours or less (often far less). Also, housing prices aren't what they are in Austin, though they are on the rise.

quote:

I have run my own business here for 25 years in the board and cabinet supply industry.

There are a lot of opportunities for a business related to home building in or near any of the major Texas cities -- right now. Of course, hardly anything is more cyclical than the housing industries, so there is no guarantee that by the time you arrived and got your business set up (or an existing business transferred) that the housing bubble won't have burst. But if you have the assets to allow you to weather a downturn there is no question that Texas offers pretty good economic opportunities.

Unfortunately, our public schools are lacking the state support they once received, which has pushed local property taxes to all-time highs in an attempt to maintain them. If the state doesn't step up to meet its financial obligations to the schools I'm afraid that homeowners will be bankrupted while the schools begin to deteriorate. At the same time we have a state board of education which insists that the curriculum teach that dinosaurs roamed the (flat) earth with Adam and Eve 6,000 years ago and that the civil war had nothing to do with slavery.

By the way, Texas is NOT the place to come if you are racially intolerant. Our population is highly diverse and is about 50% "Anglo" (mostly European in origin), with the other 50% of Latino, African, or Asian background. Intermarriage between races/cultures is increasingly common, and few people under the age of 40 care or even notice when a person is of a different color or originated from a different culture.

I don't know much about Dallas......but I have been in the construction industry in Houston all my life. Business is booming here and always stays pretty steady.

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I have lived in both Dallas and Houston. They are very different cities. In general, Houstonians are less pretentious and more welcoming. Dallas is old money, Houston is entrepreneurial money. Houston is a very diverse city. There is already a decent group of South African professionals in Houston. At one point both our pediatrician and general practitioner were South Africans. As others mentioned, do not look past other “smaller” cities like San Antonio and Austin. The Hill Country is a unique area with its own distinctive topography, architecture, etc.

San Antonio by smaller he means 1.3 million and 2.4 million greater metro.

And Austin 950k, greater metro (including Round Rock) 2 million.

Combined Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Sequin, San Antonio, Boerne - 4.27 Million, by 2030 5.71 Million.

Too many people - Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth are worse.

Depending on when you might be in Dallas (I have a couple of hunts between now and mid December), I'd be happy to assist you any way I could. Contact via PM if you prefer.

Gentlemen
Thank you again for your comments. I fully intend to follow up on the generous offers from the members above as soon as our travel plans are firmed up.

Stonecreek, do not presume for a minute that our outlook has anything to do with being racially intolerant. It has everything to do with the protection of property rights and the prospect of raising ones kids in an enviroment where hard work and determination can get you ahead without the threat of the state taking it away arbitrarily. Do a google search on "expropriation without compensation" and see which country pops up! Add that to a corrupt and useless state and I don't think it will take long before you understand our motivation!

JCHB

You should start with making contact with: business development and chambers of commerce and such.
These local guys can get you contacts from their areas.

These places should know of such business's that might be up for sale.
Surely such huge cities as those listed will have several places you could most likely get into.

I'd suggest up here except for the snow and cold. We have more cold temps than we do snow.
But, it can get up to your belt buckle. Very rarely, but, it can and has.

Contact folks at: Woodworker's Supply, they might know some about what you're looking for.
All I know about them is they're a pretty fair sized company and I've bought a few tools from them is all.
Easy to deal with. I don't know any names though. Just might a be a good contact though.

woodworker.com

Best wishes,
George

Unfortunately, I don’t think I would be a great tour guide in Dallas. However, I do have some good mates from RSA who live in the immediate area. They are not much into hunting (not anti), but they are involved with the PGA Tour and know of the RSA expat network in these parts.

I don’t know what your timeframe might be, but I could set up a meet and they might introduce you. DSC in January could be a good time as I don’t think they will be toting bags in Hawaii around then.

PM me should you be interested.

I’m a transplant to Dallas and really enjoy living here. Formerly lived in California, which would be a great state if it weren’t for all the Californians - horribly messed up politically and way too expensive.

Tons of businesses moving to Dallas - most notably was Toyota whom also moved out of California last year. Huge amounts of growth around the city, especially around the Frisco area of Dallas (North Dallas along the 121 Tollway, aka Sam Rayburn Tollway). Housing is doing really well in those areas, but the prices of homes have grown a little with the increased demand. Still very cheap though compared to California.

Housing prices here are also very dependent on schools as your homes location determines what school district your kids go to. Schools are ranked 1-10 (10 being the best) and folks try dearly to send their kids to an 8+ rated school (you will often see increases in the Indian/Asian population around these areas as they value education above everything). Can’t comment on the mention of schools teaching the world is 6000 years old, but seems unlikely in the major cities - population and beliefs are too diverse to let that happen.

You are probably already aware of this, but Texas does not have a state income tax. There is still the federal tax to be paid, but the no state income tax can save you a bit over states like California which charge another 8-10%, depending on income. Our property tax is higher than many places, but homes aren’t as expensive.

Happy to answer any other questions - just shoot me a PM. As I said before, I enjoy living in Dallas and find the people very friendly, the city entertaining, and feel it’s a great place to raise a family.

I have my main operations center in Houston and find it to be a very diverse, entrepreneurial city.

I live in Tyler and know a couple of RSA transplants who are excelling here. One has a bed/breakfast/vineyard/restaurant/subdivision and the other is a dairy farmer with farms around Tyler.

quote:

Stonecreek, do not presume for a minute that our outlook has anything to do with being racially intolerant.

Not presuming anything at all. Just pointing out that Texas is not the place that cliches often describe it. You still see plenty of Stetsons, but Texas is typically more diverse than many other states, especially in the two cities you mentioned.

Gentlemen
Thank you again for your input. Thank you as well to those who have sent PM's. The AR community has a value that goes far behond hunting and shooting!
JCHB

I have lived in Dallas 29 years. I thin the whole old money/new money Dallas/Houston thing is no longer valid unless maybe you are interested in being in "society." I don't see it now or when I was in the law firm.

Things have definitely shifted from the city center to the north or north west as Sevens said. Now working 23 miles from home, makes for a long commute.

As a former (way back) South African living in Texas, I can add some perspective that you might not get from others. I would not restrict yourself to the "big cities", there are probably a dozen towns in Texas bigger than Pretoria. And the competition is not as intense once you get out of the big cities.

1. South Africa, for all its problems, has one of the most comfortable climates in the world. Moving to the USA, you will deal with HUMIDITY in summer in most areas. Houston in particular is very sticky in summer, so much so that the pedestrian traffic is mostly underground in airconditioned tunnels and shopping centers. Ditto most of East Texas. This is one good reason for looking at the "Hill Country" which has some elevation is a bit cooler and a lot drier. This stretches from Austin up to Cisco roughly in the middle of Texas.

2. SA does not have HURRICANES or TORNADOES. Texas does, along the coastal areas (another reason to avoid Houston) and in "Tornado alley", look it up! Many homes have underground shelters, this is not to be taken lightly. We also get serious hail here. A couple years back we had baseball hail and had to replace every roof on the ranch, plus a bunch of windows and other stuff.

3. Central Texas will remind you of Africa, except you have Mesquite and not Acacia. Grass turns brown in winter, the light and colors are similar, you will feel at home in these areas. TX is mostly flat, except for the HC and parts of West Texas.

4. West Texas is hot and drier, almost like the Karoo. Harsh country.

5. Most property in TX is private, so if you like to hunt you should find an area where you can afford to buy 100 acres or so. Good whitetail hunting (I would say WT are our Kudu); good hogs but mostly nocturnal like Bosvark not Vlakvark; turkey; quail and dove; and the big surprise, Central Texas is on a major duck flyway so we have great duck hunting. If you want to hunt pheasant you need to look at the panhandle (Amarillo area). West Texas has Auodad (Barbary Sheep), and some mule deer. Some areas have Pronghorn (like Springbok).

6. Most Texans are welcoming and friendly; but some are getting a bit jaded by the influx of people from elsewhere. Social life revolves around church, football, hunting/fishing, cars, and bbq. It will be a big adjustment for you and your family notwithstanding the superficial similarities.

7. Texas needs to get it's money someplace ... there is sales tax on everything you buy circa 8% and businesses are taxed on their assets including inventory which is a killer if you need a lot of that stuff. There is property tax (you call it rates but it's really substantial in most of the USA incl. Texas.) If you have a ranch you can avoid paying sales tax on "farm supplies" but you have to be somewhat serious ... hunting property and wildlife property does not qualify.

7. There are some great colleges in TX, thinking ahead. It's easier to get in, and cheaper, if you are a resident.

We have lived in CT, PA, OR, TX. I like TX the most although OR has fabulous summer weather if you can stand the drizzly winter (like Cape Town) and it's turning into a version of CA, but it still has tons of public land with great fishing and hunting. CA has the best weather but it's turning into a third world state, unless you are mega rich avoid CA. I would consider living in WY for the outdoor lifestyle and lack of people, but only because we have a place to go in Winter, it's hellishly cold in WY in Winter. NM a bit milder but much more to the left politically, and you pay for that. Same comment for CO.

To get a green card you need to have a sponsor (ie employer) willing to take you on, or a close relative already here willing to apply on your behalf. I am not aware of any exemption for people bringing in $500K, that seems like a low bar to me. I can tell you it's getting tougher under either flavor of administration, to get in legally. I suspect that a Dem administration would disadvantage South African whites in the process. Reps just want less immigration period, although there will always be openings for medical doctors, IT and electronics people, some types of engineers, and maybe nurses and pharmacists.

Good luck, it's not an easy transition for anyone let alone someone who is already at the half way point in life. It's easier for kids and young adults.

JCHB, I am a realtor in the Dallas, Fort Worth Denton and North Texas area and would be happy to assist. Just shoot me an email if I can help.gvaughnrealestate@gmail.com

I live just outside San Antonio. My wife and I were both born and raised there. I suggest you look at this area. There's a SA expat 3 houses down from me.