Winter Texans

 

This is my first update from the new digs in Texas.  The trip from Florida was uneventful if you can believe that.  Everything worked and nothing broke or fell off.  This was our first time carrying the motorcycle on the lift, and it was the first time towing the Jeep.  But everything stayed solid and worked as expected.  If there was any downside it was that with all we were carrying / towing we only got about 7.5 MPG.  I’m just glad the new company was paying for it all.

 

So as of 5PM today I have been here for 1 full week.  I hit the ground running and had an incredible amount to learn.  Here we have 4 communities, 2 which have an RV focus and 2 which are single family homes.  For 2 of the communities we have models and design centers where buyers go through a selection process that takes about 4 hours.  They get to choose everything from light and plumbing fixtures to flooring, doors, cabinets, appliances... and a myriad of other things.  My new builder is not a custom builder but it gets pretty close.  I have sold 2 homes this week and the options selected ranged from moving walls to extending the RV port to include a 2 story storage area.  Anyway, I think you get the idea.  And it really does take 4 hours to get a buyer through the process.

 

I also have to learn our marketing management system, email marketing system, website management and complete marketing analytics.  In lay terms that means if you click a link in one of our promotional emails, I can tell where you went on our web sites and what you looked at.  Our marketing support systems are on a par with big corporations and it really excites the “geek” in me.  We also have a complete construction management application which guides the entire process from interested buyers, to contracts, to options, to a complete construction plan.  It has taken the owner 4 years to get the application fully populated with all the plans, specifications, vendors, and costs.  Now that it is fully operational I can provide a buyer a complete cost breakdown and build schedule, even including any chosen options, in a matter of minutes.  It’s an amazing system.

 

 

The resorts and homes are incredible and the area is proving to be very nice.  We must have a couple hundred restaurants within a 15 minute drive, and they range from national chains to local one-offs.  Similar for shopping where you can find anything from Bloomingdales to Bed Bath and Beyond and everything between.  We are 15 minutes from the McAllen airport with provides pretty good connectivity nationwide with flights from a hand full of national carriers.  We are 30 minutes from South Padre Island where we can get our beach fix, and we have the Rio Grand and a constant level ox bow lake where there are jet skis, water skiing and lots of fishing.  We have 12 golf courses within a 30 minute radius as well as the requisite driving ranges and putt putt courses.

 

Down here the “Snowbirds” are called “Winter Texans” which was a term I was not familiar with.  The community here really caters to them.  It’s almost like Daytona during bike week where the establishments advertise “Bikers Welcome”.  Here they advertise “Winter Texans Welcome”.  In fact there is a Winter Texas section in the McAllen newspaper and a cable TV channel called WTTV – Winter Texan TV.  The working class of the area is predominately Hispanic and they go out of their way to make you feel welcome. 

 

Weather wise it has been a bit hotter here than Florida was.  We have had only a few sprinkles 1 day since I arrived, and the average temps have been mid to upper 80’s.  I think we hit 90 today.  In the summer I am told we will get a couple of triple digit days but almost always have a breeze to make it bearable.  I’ll report on that next fall.

 

Roxie is loving it here.  Between every set of homes is a huge greenbelt.  These cut all over the resort and provide wonderful spaces for walking dogs.  We also have a large dog park with all the ramps and tunnels and stuff to train them on.  And if that's  not enough we have miles and miles of hike and bike trails, we connect to a huge state park where they allow dogs, and we back up to a 100 acre athletic complex with everything from lighted baseball, soccer and tennis, to a private fishing lake.  This is truly heaven for pups.

 

 

So that’s about it.  So far I really like it here and i t looks like there are strong sales opportunities.  The only negative so far is not being with my “Snowbird” friends and clients from Florida.  You have something really special there which I don’t believe exists anywhere else.  Cherish what you have my friends and please stay in touch. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Cindy, Terry & Roxie