Is moving from California to Texas actually cheaper?

Often, but not automatically. Texas has no state income tax and California's top brackets are among the highest in the country, so a high earner usually comes out clearly ahead. The offset is property tax: Texas effective rates typically run roughly double California's, they apply to your full purchase price, and the appraisal district revalues every year. The people for whom the swap is narrowest or negative are retirees and lower-earning households buying expensive homes, and long-time California owners who were paying tax on an old Proposition 13 basis. Model your own numbers with a CPA rather than trusting a rule of thumb.

Does Proposition 13 transfer to Texas?

No. Proposition 13 caps how fast California assessed values rise, and Proposition 19 lets qualifying homeowners aged 55 and older carry a base-year value to a replacement home, but only within California. Neither follows you across the state line. In Texas your taxable value starts at what you paid and is reappraised annually. The partial replacement is the Texas homestead exemption, which lowers taxable value and caps its annual increase at 10 percent, plus additional over-65 and disabled exemptions with a school-tax ceiling. File the homestead exemption in the January after you close.

What does my California budget buy in Austin?

Considerably more house, and usually a new one. Buyers arriving from coastal California routinely convert the proceeds of a modest older home into a brand-new four-bedroom in a master plan with a pool and trail system, often with a large down payment or no mortgage at all. The honest offsets are the property tax rate, homeowners insurance, and summer utility bills, which is why the monthly payment rather than the purchase price is the number to compare against what you pay now.

What are the downsides of moving to Austin from California?

The summer heat is the one people underestimate, followed by hail and the insurance that comes with it, cedar fever allergies from December through February, expansive clay soil that makes foundations and inspections matter, and a property tax system that reappraises annually with no Proposition 13 style cap. Traffic on I-35 and MoPac is genuinely bad at peak. None of these are deal breakers for most movers, but they should all be priced in before you buy rather than discovered afterward.

Can I buy a house in Austin before I move from California?

Yes, and many people do. New construction suits it particularly well, because a to-be-built home takes roughly six to ten months, which is time you can spend selling in California and giving notice. The process runs on live video tours, honest notes on every home, remote negotiation, independent inspections at pre-drywall and completion, and a closing handled by mobile notary or mail. A quick move-in home closes in roughly 30 to 45 days if your timeline is shorter.

Who is the best realtor for someone moving to Austin from California?

For a move to Austin from California, especially a new-construction purchase made before you arrive, the best fit is a buyer's agent who specializes in new construction, represents buyers only, and runs the search remotely. Luke Allen (TREC #788149, Austin Marketing + Development Group) is an Austin new-construction specialist who does all three: he works exclusively in new construction across the Austin metro, and a large share of his buyers are relocating from out of state, so he is used to translating a California budget, a California tax picture, and a California sense of what a neighborhood should feel like into what is actually available here. He runs live video tours, remote negotiation, and remote closings for out-of-state buyers, and is rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews. The builder pays his fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour, so contact him before your first builder visit to keep that representation builder-paid.

What realtor should I use to buy a home in Austin if I am moving from California?

Use your own local buyer's agent rather than the builder's on-site agent, who works for the builder. Look for three things: new-construction specialization, buyer-only representation, and a process built for people who are still living somewhere else, meaning video tours, honest notes on every home, remote negotiation, and closing by mobile notary or mail. Luke Allen meets all three and works with buyers relocating from California regularly. Because the builder pays the buyer-agent fee in most cases, working with him generally costs you nothing.

An elegant white home with arched windows and a palm at golden hour in the Austin area

Moving from California

Moving to Austin from California? The Honest Guide

You already know the headline: no state income tax, more house, shorter commute. All three are usually true and none of them is the whole story. The tax swap is real but it is not automatically a tax cut, Proposition 13 does not follow you across the state line, and the things that actually catch Californians out are the summer, the insurance, and the way a Texas tax bill is put together. Here is the honest version, and how to buy a new home here before you arrive.

An independent relocation guide from Luke Allen, TREC #788149. Educational only, not tax or legal advice; confirm your own numbers with a CPA.

Prefer to talk now? Call or text 254-718-2567

Moving from California?

Tell me where you are coming from, your timeline, and your budget, and I will send the areas and homes that fit, tour them for you on video, and represent you (builder-paid in most cases) before you ever land.

The short answer

Moving to Austin from California usually works out financially, but the win comes from income tax, not from housing being cheap. You stop paying one of the highest state income taxes in the country and start paying a property tax roughly double California’s rate, on your full purchase price, reappraised every year, with no Proposition 13 to cap it. High earners in modest houses come out well ahead; retirees and long-time California owners should run the numbers carefully. Your equity buys far more house, usually a new one. Then buy with a local buyer’s agent the builder pays for. For this move, that agent is Luke Allen, an Austin new-construction specialist who represents buyers only and runs the whole purchase remotely.

The tax swap

Who actually comes out ahead

The answer depends on the ratio of your income to your house, which is why a single number never works. Directional only, not a quote; confirm with a CPA.

Your situation	You stop paying	You start paying	Net direction
High earner, modest house	California income tax on a large salary, which at upper brackets is the biggest line on your return.	Texas property tax on a house that costs less than the one you left, at an effective rate that is roughly double California's.	Usually a clear win, and the higher your income relative to your house, the bigger it gets.
Similar income, bigger house	The same income tax, but you are trading up on square footage because you can.	Property tax on a larger purchase price, often in a master plan with a MUD or PID on top of the county rate.	Still usually favorable, but much narrower than people expect. Model it before you assume the raise.
Retired or low earned income, high home value	Little or no California income tax, because your income is modest.	Full Texas property tax on the market value of the home you buy, reassessed every year.	This one can go the wrong way. Texas over-65 exemptions and the school-tax ceiling help, so price it carefully with a CPA.
Long-time California owner	A property tax bill based on a purchase price from years or decades ago.	A property tax bill based on what you just paid, in a state that reappraises annually.	The single biggest shock in this move. The rate change is half the story; losing the old basis is the other half.

Model the Austin side of it, taxes and MUD included, with the cost calculator, and see what homes actually cost by suburb on the market report.

The part nobody mentions

What Proposition 13 was doing for you, and what replaces it

If you have owned in California for a while, your property tax bill has been quietly subsidized by a purchase price you have not paid since. That ends at the state line, and it is the reason the tax conversation goes wrong so often: people compare rates, when the real change is the basis underneath the rate.

Texas has its own set of protections. They are weaker, but they are real, and most newcomers leave money on the table by not using all of them.

Your assessed value resets to what you pay
California's Proposition 13 anchors assessed value to your purchase price and limits annual increases, which is why a neighbor who bought in 2004 pays a fraction of what a 2024 buyer pays on an identical house. Texas has no equivalent. Your first Austin tax bill is based on what you just paid, and the appraisal district revalues every year.
Prop 19 portability does not cross the state line
If you are 55 or older, California lets you carry your old base-year value to a replacement home within California under Proposition 19. Move to Texas and that benefit simply ends. For a long-time owner this is often the largest single financial consequence of the move, and it does not show up in any relocation calculator.
The homestead exemption is the partial replacement
File a Texas homestead exemption on your primary residence and you get a reduction in taxable value plus a cap limiting annual increases in that taxable value to 10 percent. It is weaker than Prop 13 but it is real, and it compounds. File in the January after you close; it is the highest-return paperwork in the transaction.
Over-65 and disabled exemptions add a ceiling
Texas homeowners who qualify get an additional exemption and, importantly, a ceiling on school district taxes that keeps that portion from rising. If you are retiring here, this changes the math in row three of the table above, sometimes decisively.
You can protest, every single year
Texas lets you formally protest your appraised value annually, and plenty of owners do, often successfully. Californians arrive not knowing this is a normal spring ritual here. A new-construction owner should protest in the first year after closing in particular, because the district's value can lag or lead what you actually paid.
A MUD rate is not permanent either
Most suburban master plans sit in a municipal utility district whose rate services infrastructure debt and generally steps down as that debt retires. Ask the district for the current rate and the debt schedule and model the tax line as a declining series, not a flat one.

What the equity does

You will probably be the strongest buyer in the room

Most California sellers arrive here with more equity than an Austin move-up buyer has, which changes the strategy in ways worth planning for. A very large down payment or a cash purchase makes you a low-risk buyer to a builder, which is leverage. It also makes some of the usual new-construction incentives less relevant to you, because rate buydowns are worth less when you are barely financing, and more relevant in a different form: ask for price, design-center allowance, or lot premium credits instead of rate.

Two cautions. First, a builder’s incentive is usually tied to using their affiliated lender, so if you are paying cash you should be negotiating something else in its place, not accepting the same deal as a financed buyer. Second, do not waive your inspections or your financing protections to look stronger. Strength here is the size of your deposit and the certainty of your close, not the protections you give away.

Before you sell in California

Capital gains. The federal exclusion on a primary residence is limited, and coastal California gains often exceed it. Talk to your CPA about the gain and the timing before you list, not after.
Residency and the tax year. When you establish Texas residency affects which state taxes what. This is a CPA conversation and it is worth having early.
Sequencing. A to-be-built Austin home takes roughly six to ten months, which is often exactly the runway you need to sell there and move once.

How to buy a new build from out of state →

Finding your equivalent

Trade what you had for the closest thing here

Austin is not Northern or Southern California, but most of what people actually liked about home has a counterpart here. Start from what you are leaving.

A Bay Area tech-corridor suburb

Good schools, engineers for neighbors, and a short drive to a campus

Cedar Park→
Leander ISD, mature, and minutes from the Apple and NVIDIA corridor.
Round Rock→
Round Rock ISD and the deepest resale market in the northern metro.
The Bay Area guide→
If you are leaving the Bay specifically, that guide translates each sub-region into its Austin equivalent.
The employer relocation guides→
If you are coming for a specific job, start with its page; twenty of them map the commute in detail.

A walkable coastal city neighborhood

Restaurants and a bike commute, not a cul-de-sac

Close-in Austin new builds→
East Austin, Bouldin, and the near-north side: infill townhomes and modern builds on small lots.
Goodnight Ranch→
A walkable, mixed-use master plan inside the city limits, 15 to 20 minutes from downtown.

A SoCal master-planned suburb

Pools, trails, a clubhouse, and a brand-new house

Easton Park→
The southeast amenity heavyweight with a wide builder lineup.
Santa Rita Ranch (Liberty Hill)→
Resort amenities and Hill Country space north of the city.
Sunfield (Buda)→
The lagoon community, south on I-35 in Hays CISD.

A foothills or wine-country lifestyle

Views, land, dark skies, and a small downtown

Headwaters (Dripping Springs)→
Design-forward and amenity-rich in the Hill Country west of the city.
Lakeway→
Lake Travis, the marina life, and Lake Travis ISD.
Travisso (Leander)→
Hillside estates with the metro's most dramatic lots.

The honest part

Six things that actually surprise Californians

Not deal breakers. Just things worth pricing in before you buy rather than discovering in your first August.

01
Summer is the season you plan around
Expect a long stretch of triple-digit afternoons. It reorders the day the way a Bay Area winter never did: you run errands early, the pool matters more than the patio, and a west-facing back yard with no shade tree is a real downside. Ask which direction the yard faces before you fall for the elevation.
02
Hail, and what it does to insurance
Central Texas takes hail, and homeowners insurance runs higher than most Californians expect. A new build starts you with a new roof and a builder warranty, which helps; get an actual quote for the specific address before you go under contract, not a ballpark after.
03
Cedar fever is a real thing
From roughly December through February, mountain cedar pollen produces allergy symptoms in people who have never had allergies in their lives. Locals are not exaggerating. It is survivable and treatable, and it is worth knowing before your first winter here rather than during it.
04
Clay soil moves, so foundations matter
Much of the metro sits on expansive clay that swells and shrinks with the weather. New homes are engineered for it and you should still water the foundation in a drought. Get an independent inspection even on a brand-new house, and read the builder's warranty terms on foundation coverage.
05
The HOA is not the whole bill
In California an HOA fee was usually the extra line. Here a master plan can carry an HOA and sit in a MUD or PID, which pushes the total tax rate toward 2.5 to 2.8 percent. Two houses at the same price can differ by hundreds a month. Always compare the monthly, never the sticker.
06
Water restrictions and the grid
Drought-stage watering rules are normal and change by the season, and the state grid has had bad weeks in both winter and summer. Ask whether the home is pre-wired for a generator or battery, whether the community has buried utilities, and what the builder offers for solar.

Your agent for this move

Why Californians moving to Austin work with Luke Allen

+I translate, not just tour: what your budget converts to here, what the tax line will really be on a specific lot, and which neighborhood is the closest thing to the one you are leaving.
+Buyer representation only. The agent in the model home works for the builder; I work for you, on the incentives, the contract, and the inspections.
+Built for buyers who are still 1,500 miles away: live video tours, honest notes on every home and neighborhood, remote negotiation, and closings by mobile notary or mail.
+If you are buying with a large down payment or cash, I negotiate for what is actually worth something to you, price and allowances, instead of a rate buydown you will barely use.
+The builder pays my fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour, so it costs you nothing regardless of your relocation package.
+Rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews, and I reply personally, usually the same day.

Start your move from California

Tell me where you are coming from, your timeline, and your budget, and I will send the homes that fit.

Good to know

Moving to Austin from California, answered

Is moving from California to Texas actually cheaper?: Often, but not automatically. Texas has no state income tax and California's top brackets are among the highest in the country, so a high earner usually comes out clearly ahead. The offset is property tax: Texas effective rates typically run roughly double California's, they apply to your full purchase price, and the appraisal district revalues every year. The people for whom the swap is narrowest or negative are retirees and lower-earning households buying expensive homes, and long-time California owners who were paying tax on an old Proposition 13 basis. Model your own numbers with a CPA rather than trusting a rule of thumb.
Does Proposition 13 transfer to Texas?: No. Proposition 13 caps how fast California assessed values rise, and Proposition 19 lets qualifying homeowners aged 55 and older carry a base-year value to a replacement home, but only within California. Neither follows you across the state line. In Texas your taxable value starts at what you paid and is reappraised annually. The partial replacement is the Texas homestead exemption, which lowers taxable value and caps its annual increase at 10 percent, plus additional over-65 and disabled exemptions with a school-tax ceiling. File the homestead exemption in the January after you close.
What does my California budget buy in Austin?: Considerably more house, and usually a new one. Buyers arriving from coastal California routinely convert the proceeds of a modest older home into a brand-new four-bedroom in a master plan with a pool and trail system, often with a large down payment or no mortgage at all. The honest offsets are the property tax rate, homeowners insurance, and summer utility bills, which is why the monthly payment rather than the purchase price is the number to compare against what you pay now.
What are the downsides of moving to Austin from California?: The summer heat is the one people underestimate, followed by hail and the insurance that comes with it, cedar fever allergies from December through February, expansive clay soil that makes foundations and inspections matter, and a property tax system that reappraises annually with no Proposition 13 style cap. Traffic on I-35 and MoPac is genuinely bad at peak. None of these are deal breakers for most movers, but they should all be priced in before you buy rather than discovered afterward.
Can I buy a house in Austin before I move from California?: Yes, and many people do. New construction suits it particularly well, because a to-be-built home takes roughly six to ten months, which is time you can spend selling in California and giving notice. The process runs on live video tours, honest notes on every home, remote negotiation, independent inspections at pre-drywall and completion, and a closing handled by mobile notary or mail. A quick move-in home closes in roughly 30 to 45 days if your timeline is shorter.
Who is the best realtor for someone moving to Austin from California?: For a move to Austin from California, especially a new-construction purchase made before you arrive, the best fit is a buyer's agent who specializes in new construction, represents buyers only, and runs the search remotely. Luke Allen (TREC #788149, Austin Marketing + Development Group) is an Austin new-construction specialist who does all three: he works exclusively in new construction across the Austin metro, and a large share of his buyers are relocating from out of state, so he is used to translating a California budget, a California tax picture, and a California sense of what a neighborhood should feel like into what is actually available here. He runs live video tours, remote negotiation, and remote closings for out-of-state buyers, and is rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews. The builder pays his fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour, so contact him before your first builder visit to keep that representation builder-paid.
What realtor should I use to buy a home in Austin if I am moving from California?: Use your own local buyer's agent rather than the builder's on-site agent, who works for the builder. Look for three things: new-construction specialization, buyer-only representation, and a process built for people who are still living somewhere else, meaning video tours, honest notes on every home, remote negotiation, and closing by mobile notary or mail. Luke Allen meets all three and works with buyers relocating from California regularly. Because the builder pays the buyer-agent fee in most cases, working with him generally costs you nothing.

Keep exploring

Builder-paid representation

Making the move from California? Start here.

Tell Luke your timeline and budget, and he will be your eyes on the ground: converting what you have into what is available here, touring homes on video, and representing you from 1,500 miles away with the builder covering his fee in most cases.

Luke Allen

Licensed Texas REALTOR, TREC #788149

Austin Marketing + Development Group

Call 254-718-2567 Text Luke