Where would you live in Texas?

[James Jordan]

Lol, I hear that a lot.
I should do a bi-weekly Saturday morning from 1o to 12 or so "Coffee with Diesel on the reef "
And we I will do a small presstation in everything reef related.
As in cycling, rock Scape, coral fragging and dipping, nutrition control, old school and new school reefing and everything between, fish decease (of course we get humble/Bobby and Meridith in for the day.
Or just answer and questions.
This can be fun.
Need to find my Squad shirt :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure you are kidding but I would attend. There are so many things to read and filter through in this hobby it's overwhelming to get started. I am legitimately in this paralysis by analysis phase right now. I think I know enough to pull the trigger but I don't want to buy/do/not do something that is going to hurt me in the long run. I think I just meed to suck it up buttercup and jump this week.

 

[Eric81]

Just saw this thread and would like to say that you made the right choice! I live in the DFW area, and love it, but if I could choose differently I would go Austin. Just has a cool vibe to it and there is a ton to do in the hill country.

Plano is nice, but really crowded and home prices are sky rocketing right now. Austin has a solid housing market which is very stable and will be for the long term.

On a side note, I work for a mortgage banker and can assisit if you are looking for a mortgage, or if you have any related questions at all.

Cheers and welcome to Texas!!!

 

[bevo5]

Austin is the best city in Texas hands down. Come on.....30min to Salt Lick. Franklins anytime you want to wait in line for it. Best Tex Mex in the world. Lake Austin. The greatest University in the world. It's a no brainer.

Now you just need to get a 180, slap a couple Fluval FX6's on it, fill it up with that ultra hard Austin tap water and get into the African Cichlid game. That's what I'd say most aquariums in Austin are since the water is +8 PH and hard as a rock out of the tap.

Amazonia would've been the place to go for weird fish store stuff, but they closed.
Aquatek is great but the salespeople can be a bit pretentious.

 

[James Jordan]

The greatest University in the world.

You lost me. Saw 'em off!

 

[Humblefish]

I was born and raised in Plano and currently life a little further north in Frisco.

I've visited Austin countless times and it's great. Traffic is horrid but up north in Round Rock it won't be as bad. Round Rock to Austin is about the same as Plano to Dallas, both suburbs and VERY nice ones, but in Plano/Dallas you'll be in a much larger market with far more things to do and easier travel access. I'd chose Dallas/Plano, not because I'm a homer, but because I'd like the bigger market.

They call Houston the armpit of Texas - Need I say more? J/K Houstonites - I love ya!

Unfortunately, the employer took Dallas off the table a long time ago. So for now we're just bouncing back & forth between Austin and Houston. My wife's employer has offices in both locations, so she could literally work in Austin one week, Houston the next. Of course, this is not sustainable for the long-term.

We've decided to hold off buying (for now) until we become more comfortable with Texas in general. Like someone said to me, best to "date" Texas for the time being. If we really like her we will go steady; if we fall in love then is the time to settle down & buy a house. ;)

In the meanwhile, my biggest challenge is finding a landlord OK with 12-15 small saltwater aquariums throughout the house. Of course, we will agree to carry renters insurance to cover the cost of any damages should one of the saltwater aquariums leak. This arrangement would last about one year, at which point I would either downsize & go back to being a hobbyist or move everything into commercial space. I just don't want to commit to a 3-5 year lease for the latter until I'm sure my business idea of selling fully QT fish will work.

So, if anyone reading this knows of (or is) such a landlord please let me know. We are in Austin at the moment, but I would not be opposed to coming back to Houston for an agreeable rental arrangement. I also wouldn't be opposed to signing a commercial lease that wasn't long-term. Say, 2 years just to see how the business does.

 

[Brew12]

Unfortunately, the employer took Dallas off the table a long time ago. So for now we're just bouncing back & forth between Austin and Houston. My wife's employer has offices in both locations, so she could literally work in Austin one week, Houston the next. Of course, this is not sustainable for the long-term.

We've decided to hold off buying (for now) until we become more comfortable with Texas in general. Like someone said to me, best to "date" Texas for the time being. If we really like her we will go steady; if we fall in love then is the time to settle down & buy a house. ;)

In the meanwhile, my biggest challenge is finding a landlord OK with 12-15 small saltwater aquariums throughout the house. Of course, we will agree to carry renters insurance to cover the cost of any damages should one of the saltwater aquariums leak. This arrangement would last about one year, at which point I would either downsize & go back to being a hobbyist or move everything into commercial space. I just don't want to commit to a 3-5 year lease for the latter until I'm sure my business idea of selling fully QT fish will work.

So, if anyone reading this knows of (or is) such a landlord please let me know. We are in Austin at the moment, but I would not be opposed to coming back to Houston for an agreeable rental arrangement. I also wouldn't be opposed to signing a commercial lease that wasn't long-term. Say, 2 years just to see how the business does.

I'm surprised that you can't find commercial space in a strip mall for a 1 year lease. At least around by me, the value of rental in a strip mall continues to drop and they are fairly desperate to get renters in.

 

[James Jordan]

Unfortunately, the employer took Dallas off the table a long time ago. So for now we're just bouncing back & forth between Austin and Houston. My wife's employer has offices in both locations, so she could literally work in Austin one week, Houston the next. Of course, this is not sustainable for the long-term.

We've decided to hold off buying (for now) until we become more comfortable with Texas in general. Like someone said to me, best to "date" Texas for the time being. If we really like her we will go steady; if we fall in love then is the time to settle down & buy a house. ;)

In the meanwhile, my biggest challenge is finding a landlord OK with 12-15 small saltwater aquariums throughout the house. Of course, we will agree to carry renters insurance to cover the cost of any damages should one of the saltwater aquariums leak. This arrangement would last about one year, at which point I would either downsize & go back to being a hobbyist or move everything into commercial space. I just don't want to commit to a 3-5 year lease for the latter until I'm sure my business idea of selling fully QT fish will work.

So, if anyone reading this knows of (or is) such a landlord please let me know. We are in Austin at the moment, but I would not be opposed to coming back to Houston for an agreeable rental arrangement. I also wouldn't be opposed to signing a commercial lease that wasn't long-term. Say, 2 years just to see how the business does.

Check PM

 

[Humblefish]

I'm surprised that you can't find commercial space in a strip mall for a 1 year lease. At least around by me, the value of rental in a strip mall continues to drop and they are fairly desperate to get renters in.

I would LOVE to find something like that. But here in Austin, real estate (both residential & commercial) is in high demand so it's a sellers market. A typical commercial lease is 5-10 years, and I'm just not willing to stick my neck out for that long in case it fails.

 

[Annette Garcia]

There's a fish store that shut down here in Austin it might be up for grabs not sure the old store was called fishy business

 

[Humblefish]

There's a fish store that shut down here in Austin it might be up for grabs not sure the old store was called fishy business

Called the # on the sign out front and left a msg! :)

 

[Annette Garcia]

Humble fish I would be so happy if you do get it. I would be there every week [emoji23].

 

[Brew12]

Called the # on the sign out front and left a msg! :)

Unfortunately (or fortunately), you have taught me well enough that I have only lost 1 fish so far. No idea what happened to that Gramma. I will place an order for the few fish I would like once you get established! :(

 

[d2mini]

I'd take Austin.
It's the hipper, weirder, cooler, smaller, prettier city.
Houston is flat, and ugly. But I suppose it does have some benefit from being larger.
For instance, you can't really beat the food and medical here.
I live in Houston and we take day or weekend trips to Austin. lol
If it wasn't for family and jobs, we would have moved their years ago.

 

[Humblefish]

Unfortunately (or fortunately), you have taught me well enough that I have only lost 1 fish so far. No idea what happened to that Gramma. I will place an order for the few fish I would like once you get established! :(

 

[Humblefish]

For instance, you can't really beat the food and medical here.

Near Willowbrook we found an awesome Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, and Italian restaurant. Heck, even the taco stand inside the gas station was good! But I just can't get that Red Thai Curry out of my head. That's almost worth getting into a car wreck over as everyone drives down the freeway doing 100 mph. :p

 

[James Jordan]

Near Willowbrook we found an awesome Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, and Italian restaurant. Heck, even the taco stand inside the gas station was good! But I just can't get that Red Thai Curry out of my head. That's almost worth getting into a car wreck over as everyone drives down the freeway doing 100 mph. :p

Not to tempt you beyond what 1 man can take but there's even better than all of those within a 1 sq mile area on Westheimer. I'm guessing at the places you tried but...

Demassis Mediterranean ===> Fadis
Dhakshin Indian =====> Shiva or Kirhams

 

[Humblefish]

Humble fish I would be so happy if you do get it. I would be there every week [emoji23].

Sorry, but you won't be seeing me there. Fishy Business retail spot is already taken, but a 1,560 sq ft lot in the same building runs almost $3,500/month. :eek:

No wonder Fishy Business ... went out of business. :p

 

[Brew12]

Sorry, but you won't be seeing me there. Fishy Business retail spot is already taken, but a 1,560 sq ft lot in the same building runs almost $3,500/month. :eek:

No wonder Fishy Business ... went out of business. :p

That is crazy. You could get into a 1200sqft lot in a building here for $750/month with a 1 year lease.

 

[d2mini]

I just don't want to commit to a 3-5 year lease for the latter until I'm sure my business idea of selling fully QT fish will work.

We have some really nice LFS here but I'm dying to find someone who does this.
Seems to be working for these guys...
https://www.facebook.com/Exotic-Reef-Creations-361906263902409/

 

[Humblefish]

That is crazy. You could get into a 1200sqft lot in a building here for $750/month with a 1 year lease.

It would be AWESOME if I could find something like that here. But is where you live weird? I'm quickly discovering that you have to pay extra for weirdness. It's... weird. ;)

We have some really nice LFS here but I'm dying to find someone who does this.
Seems to be working for these guys...
https://www.facebook.com/Exotic-Reef-Creations-361906263902409/

My business model will focus (at first) on selling 100% QT fish, primarily over the Internet. If that takes off and I can afford more space, I will next offer fully QT-d (76 day fallow) corals/inverts. Ultimately, I'd also like to have a store front someday.