cheeckymonkey

My wife and I and our two 3 year old twin boys are thinking of buying a business in and moving to Florida. Can anyone help with the E2 visa application and the pitfalls that may occur in the process, also we are struggling to find out from the Realtors in Florida what are the bet areas to be in for the best schools. Does anyone know if there is a website that can help with the school issue and any help on the E2 visa would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

Pulaski

What sort of business are you planning to buy?

Do you currently own your own business?

Have you lived outside the UK before?

How much money do you have to invest? (And how much to set yourself up with a home, vehicles, furniture, appliances, and hold as a contingency fund?)

What is your exit strategy? (How long do you plan to run the business?)

cheeckymonkey

Hi and thanks for the questions.

Plan to buy a property management company as I already have a letting agency here in the UK

I have $150,000 to invest in a business and $400,000 to invest in a property

I'll have a further $100,000 cash available

I plan to run the business until I retire and I also have 9 other properties here in the UK that will be my pension fund for the future

what do you think, is that enough?

Pulaski

It might be in the right ballpark.

Do you have a licence to be a property agent in Florida? If not, have you looked into what'll need to do to become licenced?

civilservant

You should be aware that the E2 has no definite route to a Green Card/Permanent Residence, and renewals can be very very tough to get.

Upon applying for an E2, and making plans, you should be always be prepared for the possibility that a renewal is refused at some point in the future and you have to return to the UK

Pulaski

FIFY x2

christmasoompa

You mention doing this until you retire, how far away is that? I'm just thinking as a mother how hard it would be for two boys to have grown up in the US and then have to return to the UK whenever you decide to retire, that could be really hard on them - unless of course you're going to retire in a few years time so they'll easily adjust back to life in the UK (this of course is assuming you can stay as long as you plan to and can get renewals etc).

Flabound oneday

we are here in Florida...property management companies are a dime a dozen.....you haven't said where...but presumably somewhere touristy , with lots of vacation rentals ?
PM here consists of
a) lawn maintenance
b) pool care
c) the general management/maintenance etc

you will have to employ staff to do the first two for you at least, well you will have to employ staff for something.

lawn maint is cutthroat...some people charge as little as $80pm so your $10 an hour guy will have to cut 40-50 a week just to break even

pool care , again you can get that done for 80-90 a month, factor in chemicals etc and again 40-50 a week min

as for the management ,yes you might make some money there IF you can persuade people to switch companies....which normally means cheaper rates/special offers

all in all its not a great prospect, I know one guy who failed miserably and lost everything , 2 or 3 more 'just' making do and another who works all hours god sends and admits he isn't getting rich.

schools will depend where you choose to live/work

oh and no certain GC....................

not a bright picture Im afraid

kins

http://www.greatschools.org/ for info about schools.

http://www.zillow.com/ for houses, it also shows the school district boundaries.

Nothing beats actually going there and getting a realtor to show you around though.

sir_eccles

How old are the kids? If you plan to stay until you retire (presuming the visa gets renewed which is not a given) the kids will age out and need their own visas.

Bob

And the big problem with buying a company is that the seller sets up a new company and takes all the customers with him, leaving you with a name, some assets/stock and that's it.

Bob

He mentions they are 3 in the first post....so getting to the point where schools become important.

Pulaski

The contract to sell the business should include a "do not compete" clause. Enforcing it is another matter.

sir_eccles

Somehow I missed that nugget. Ok, aging out is not an immediate problem.

scrubbedexpat099

Try the US Forum, there are people there doing what you are looking at.