- Marie Bailey moved to Texas from California in 2017 with her husband and daughter.
- The real estate agent said she and her family wanted a place that was affordable and conservative-friendly.
- Bailey said she loves her new life in Texas and is now helping others do the same.
This told essay is based on a conversation with Marie Bailey, 44, about her family's experience moving from El Segundo, California to Prosper, Texas in 2017. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in Fullerton, Orange County. I lived there from the age of 1 to 23. After that, I bounced around a bit to other parts of Orange County.
I met my husband 17 years ago and moved with him to Seal Beach, California.
On our first date together, we said, “One day we're going to leave California.” We knew even on our first date.
We are lucky to be homeowners. Her husband owned the house before their marriage. Then his job was transferred. So, I rented it.
We rented a house in El Segundo so he could commute. It was just very expensive. I had to work all the time to be able to afford anything.
When we rented in El Segundo it was $4,500 a month. Our electricity bill was quite high.
It felt like we were constantly working to sustain our lives in California. I always felt like I would never be able to move on.
We didn't want to pay that rent forever, so we were looking into how much a house in El Segundo would cost. For a tiny little fixer-upper back then, that would have been $1 million.
So we said, now is the time to start thinking seriously about living out of state.
At exactly the same time, Trump won the 2016 election. I’m not a crazy Trumper. We voted for him, but he doesn't go to every rally and so on.
But we felt we had to keep it a secret in Los Angeles. After Trump, it seemed like we were divided as a country. I didn't like that. I felt really unwelcome. As a result, I think we exceeded our limits, not only in terms of expenses.
We went on a big scouting trip to Texas in 2017
That's when we found out where we wanted to go and exactly how we wanted to do it.
The list also included other states such as Florida and Arizona. But Texas has some really great travel hubs. It's 2.5 hours from any coastline in the country. Additionally, there are a lot of tech jobs here, so my husband needed a place where he could move to another job relatively easily if needed.
When we first started looking, we had our eye on Frisco. I also looked into Rockwall, Fort Worth, and Celina. Next I looked into Prosper.
It's a growing suburb about 45 minutes from Dallas. There are 34,000 people here. [Editor’s note: The 2020 US Census lists Prosper, Texas, as having a population of 30,167 as of April 1, 2020.]
I didn't know much about it, but what really attracted me was that there was a community here with a lot of amenities. I really wanted that kind of community lifestyle.
The neighborhood where we live now, Windsong Ranch, is full of events. There are two pools, a gym and a cafe. People go out in golf carts all the time. I really liked it.
That's why we chose Prosper.
When I returned to California, everyone was surprised and said, “You're coming back in a year.'' or “I don't think you'll make it out of there.” It wasn't about finances, it was because I didn't know anyone.
So I was very particular about choosing an area where there was a lot of social going on. I don't want to be isolated. I don't want to go back because I have no friends.
I was scared to leave. There were many things. Packing everything and organizing your entire life can be very stressful.
However, when I actually tried it, it wasn't as scary as I thought.
I tried renting it first. Then we decided to quickly build a brand new house in our neighborhood.
During that time, we had to have a tenant in our home in Seal Beach. Then we put the little house on the market. It wasn't a beach. It wasn't updated at all. I think it was built in the 60's. We sold it for about the same price we paid for a brand new home here in Texas.
The home is 5,000 square feet with five bedrooms, a movie room, a game room, and two offices. It is located on a quarter acre lot. I think the deal closed for about $850,000.
Once you start building in this community, the amenities will be available to you. So we started meeting a lot of people like us.
I decided to become a real estate agent.
A few months after moving here, I was laid off from my job in international education. I immediately said: “Okay, I'm going to be a real estate agent. I'm going to specialize in Californians moving here.”
So I did. I started working towards getting my license. I decided this would be my niche. We had a hard time moving here. So you can help people through this process.
We have a lot of people moving here from New York, Chicago, and California.
We have created a Facebook group. People started joining and now we have about 45,000 members. It's a very active group. People are always asking questions, and it's the same question we had about Texas.
“Is the weather unbearable?” “Will I be unhappy?” “What will happen to my property taxes?”
Our group is really helpful. It's not just me. Many people took action. Many people have studied it. Many people decide they don't want to take action. In other words, we have everyone's point of view.
We have hundreds of clients in our Facebook group. I work with so many people in Facebook groups. We are very fortunate that people put their trust in us and that we can help them move.
Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. This is what I do to help people.
we love living in texas
For a while, every month, my husband, my daughter, and all of us sat down together and said, “This is what we want. “Are you happy here? Does everyone like it here?” And each time, everyone said, “Yes.”
Our 13 year old daughter is old enough now to have all her friends here.
Many families have moved into our home as well. My husband's brothers, my husband's mother, his sister, and many of my mother's grandchildren, nieces, and nephews are moving from California. I just can't reach it.
I love this area for all the amenities it has. There's always something going on. There will be a parade of golf carts. There was just a luau night. There's Havana Night. They have a band.
If you feel lonely, just walk to the lagoon. Some people are baking dinner for their families. I really like that.
Everything is a little more spread out here. In California, there are many different situations that overlap depending on where you live. There's more space here.
People here are a little more conservative, or at least talk about it more. We belong to a gun club. It's a nice club with a shooting range and restaurant.
It's more affordable. It's not that expensive and I feel like I can breathe more. Although Prosper's prices have increased, they are still clearly much cheaper when compared to more expensive areas of California.
I was able to buy only the bare essentials there. Here we were able to build our dream home and purchase it with greater comfort.
I also try to compare prices from time to time. There aren't many grocery stores here. There are fewer restaurants and obviously less gas. Property taxes are even higher.
I don't feel the rat race that I always felt in Los Angeles. It's not perfect. That doesn't mean there aren't people struggling. It's more realistic.
The biggest adjustment is the weather
The weather is different. California is obviously very beautiful. The weather is wonderful.
It's hot here in the summer. You don't go out on your bike in the summer. Stay in an air-conditioned space or take a dip in the pool.
It feels nice in autumn and spring. It was different because the winters are a bit cold where I am. We came here for the big freeze.
As cliché as it may sound, I miss Disneyland. I love Disney. we had passes. We lived relatively close together.
And we miss our families.
I recently won some lottery tickets. I thought if I won a billion dollars, I could get a beautiful beach house in California and go back.
But it looks like we're here to stay. I really like it.
