I moved from Canada to the U.S. in 2019 with my wife, and since then, we’ve moved more times than I can count.
It started with her finishing school and beginning her residency, which required
us to move from Los Angeles to the Inland Empire. During that time, we took
small road trips together. While she had time off, we explored cities we might
one day want to call home — places like New York, Denver, Salt Lake City, Miami,
and more. We weren’t just checking off tourist attractions. We were walking the
streets, checking the grocery stores, peeking at bus stops, and asking, “Could we
build a life here?”
Eventually, we landed on Texas as the most financially sensible option. So we
packed up and drove cross-country without ever having visited. We landed in
Houston first. It didn’t feel like home, so we spent several weeks exploring Austin,
San Antonio, and Dallas.
Dallas clicked. We got an Airbnb for a month while my wife started working at
Medical City Dallas. And then the search began: where should we live?
We did what most people do. We scoured every website, made a spreadsheet of
40+ properties, and toured nearly 20 ourselves. We evaluated everything:
construction quality, sound, crime stats, green space, gate systems, traffic,
community feel. Garden-style homes weren’t for us. Some great-looking places
had huge drawbacks you couldn’t see online. But we did the work. We found a
place.
Only for cockroaches to show up within a month. In a brand-new building.
Still, we made memories there. We hosted friends in the clubhouse, which
became one of the few hidden perks. But soon, we had to move again — my wife
got a job in McKinney, so we moved to Allen.
This time, we used a locator. He asked us 3 questions, sent us a giant list of
40 properties, and told us to use his name if we signed. That was it.
Turns out, locators get paid 50% of the first month’s rent in commissions. That’s
huge. But they don’t guide you. They don’t explain trade-offs. They don’t walk
you through the details. They don’t help you decide.
The property we ultimately chose wasn’t even on our locator’s list — because it
didn’t offer a commission. But it was the best place we ever lived.
We moved two more times due to job changes. With each move, we became
more deliberate, but it never got easier. The curated lists from locators gave us
nothing we couldn’t have Googled ourselves. And we still had to do all the work.
By now, we had a baby girl. Our 5th move in Dallas was the most exhausting yet.
We started looking for single-family homes, and finally found an agent who
helped. He actually drove with us to properties. His list was thoughtful and short.
It felt amazing to be guided.
But we still made a mistake. The home we picked felt right at first but turned out
to be all wrong. We were stuck with a property management company with
terrible ratings. We had HVAC issues in the middle of extreme Texas weather
with a baby in the house. The lease agreement was totally one-sided. Our agent
never flagged it. He wanted his commission. That was it.
That’s when the idea clicked.
There had to be a better way.
I wished someone had:
- Helped me figure out what kind of life we wanted to live
- Guided my towards neighborhoods based on us, not some generic filters
- Asked about our values, routines and priorities
- Gives us the reasons not to choose certain places
- Vetted property managers, lease agreements, and actual livability
So I built HomeScoutAdvisor.
I’m not a realtor. I don’t take commissions. I’m a researcher, a strategist, a guide. I
work for you. My only goal is to help you make a confident decision about where
to live, with zero regrets and zero FOMO.
Because you deserve a home that fits your life. And you shouldn’t have to figure
it all out on your own.