New member from down-under moving to US

[Katrina M.]

Hello BiggerPockets members!

I am 33 years old, based in Sydney, Australia and for now I create houses with a view even if there is no view. That means I do residential design.I have worked in an architectural firm and now I have been on my own for 3 years.

At BiggerPockets I am learning about investment and also studying the market because I will be moving to the US soon. We (my better half and I) decided to go to Texas. We visited Texas this summer and saw Dallas, Austin and Houston.

The reason for the move is absence of cashflow where we live. Median house price in Sydney is over $1m now so positive cash flow for us is not achievable. Plus we think we can get more investment opportunities for the same money in the US.

When we move I plan to be working in property management. For this reason I am currently taking a course for Texas Real Estate License and plan to complete it before my move (or shortly after) to sit the exam as soon as possible.

I would like to join a property management company in Texas and help it grow by delivering great service to the clients and customers. I would like to put my organisational and people skills to good use and my architectural experience will be a great bonus. Ultimately I would like to be involved in property management that also creates value through development, repositioning etc. I love working with builders – forgive me for using Australian words denoting contractors.

In addition to the formal course I am currently going through the BiggerPockets podcasts and have just over a hundred left to listen. I am also reading books recommended on the podcasts (this post is my ONE thing for today - thank you all who have been bringing it up again and again). I also have good fun analysing commercial properties for sale in Sydney. It is fun because they all are overpriced four times – and they sell for that price at auctions. So the more I look at these local sales the more I realise we must move to the US fast.

I do have a question to the forum members but could not find where to post it. So here it is.

As I will be looking to join a property management company, what qualities, skills and knowledge would be expected of a candidate?  What does your ideal team member look like, speak like, behave like? What are the aspects that matter most for you if you want to hire a team member?