Do I save on taxes moving from Seattle to Texas?

Not on income, since neither state taxes it. You would generally avoid Washington's state capital gains tax on stock sales and its estate tax, and pay a little less sales tax, and you would take on a much higher property tax bill. For an equity-heavy tech household planning to sell stock, the capital gains difference can be significant; for a retiree with a paid-off expensive house, the property tax difference can go the other way. This is not tax advice and the rules are fact-specific; model your own numbers with a CPA.

Where do people moving from Seattle live in Austin?

Mostly by analogue. Ballard, Fremont, and Capitol Hill types go close-in to East Austin, Bouldin, and South Congress. Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland families map onto the Domain area, Cedar Park, and Round Rock, which is where most Amazon and Microsoft transfers look first. Issaquah and Sammamish types go to Leander, Georgetown, and Liberty Hill for bigger lots. People leaving Bainbridge or the water head to Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Dripping Springs.

How is the weather in Austin compared to Seattle?

It is close to an exact inversion. Seattle's hard season is a long gray wet winter with very little daylight; its summers are famously perfect. Austin's hard season is summer, with a long run of triple-digit afternoons from roughly June into September that keeps people indoors the way Seattle rain does. In exchange, Austin's winter is the good season: mild, sunny, and usable, and you will be outside in January. Most people describe it as trading which part of the year you dread rather than eliminating it.

How is buying a house in Austin different from Seattle?

The posture reverses. Seattle taught buyers to move fast, waive contingencies, and treat price as the only negotiable term. Austin's new-construction market has standing inventory and builders competing on incentives, so closing-cost credits, rate buydowns, and upgrade allowances are normal requests, price is often the least flexible term because cutting it resets community comps, and you should never waive an inspection even on a brand-new home. You also get time: see several communities and drive the commute at rush hour before deciding.

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

For a move to Austin from Seattle, 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 with a lot of Amazon and Microsoft transfers and has written the Austin relocation guide for both, so he can map the Eastside or the city neighborhood you are leaving onto the right part of this metro and the right side of your new office. 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 Seattle?

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 Seattle regularly. Because the builder pays the buyer-agent fee in most cases, working with him generally costs you nothing.

A leafy, tree-canopied master-planned community street at golden hour near Austin, Texas

Moving from Seattle

Moving to Austin from Seattle? The Comparison That Actually Applies

Every Texas relocation pitch opens with no state income tax. Washington does not have one either, so that line is worth exactly nothing to you, and most of what is written about moving here is aimed at someone else. This guide starts by throwing it out. Here is the tax comparison that does apply, a climate trade that is close to an exact inversion, a housing market that will feel strange because you are allowed to negotiate again, and where people from your part of the Puget Sound tend to land.

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

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

Moving from Seattle?

Tell me which office you are joining, where you are coming from, and your timeline, and I will send the equivalents worth seeing, tour them for you on video, and represent you (builder-paid in most cases) before you land.

The short answer

Ignore the no-income-tax pitch; Washington has no income tax either. The real trade is that Texas has no state capital gains tax and no estate tax and slightly lower sales tax, while Washington has much lower property tax. Austin housing costs substantially less per square foot and new construction genuinely exists here, which is the actual win. You are trading a gray winter for a brutal summer, and you are moving from a market where you waived inspections to one where you negotiate incentives. 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 works with Amazon and Microsoft transfers regularly.

The pitch that does not work on you

Washington versus Texas, line by line

Two no-income-tax states raise money differently. Directional only, not advice, and the rules change; confirm with a CPA.

	Washington	Texas	Advantage
State income tax	None.	None.	Even
Property tax	Comparatively low effective rates, helped by statutory limits on how fast most taxing districts can grow their regular levies.	High, and the biggest single number in this table. Roughly 1.8 percent in much of the metro, and 2.5 to 2.8 percent in a master plan inside a MUD, applied to full market value and reappraised annually with no statewide growth cap.	Washington
Capital gains	A state capital gains tax applies to long-term gains above an annual threshold. Real estate is excluded, but sales of stock are not, which matters if a lot of your compensation is equity.	No state capital gains tax.	Texas
Estate tax	Washington levies a state estate tax above an exemption threshold.	No state estate tax.	Texas
Sales tax	Among the higher combined rates in the country in the Seattle area, because so much of the state's revenue comes from it.	Capped lower than Seattle's combined rate, so day-to-day purchases generally cost a little less in tax.	Texas
Housing cost	The expensive side of the trade, and the reason most people are reading this page.	Substantially lower per square foot, with real new-construction supply and builder incentives that do not exist in a supply-starved market.	Texas

The short version: if a meaningful share of your compensation is equity you expect to sell, the capital gains difference is the line that matters most, and it favors Texas. If you are retiring with a paid-off expensive house and modest income, the property tax line can outweigh everything else and favor staying. Most working tech households land clearly on the Texas side once housing cost is included, but run it rather than assuming.

Model the Austin monthly, MUD and insurance included, with the cost calculator, or find your break-even with the rent versus buy calculator.

The trade nobody quantifies

You are not escaping a bad season. You are swapping it.

Seattle’s hard season is a long gray winter with very little daylight, and its summers are close to perfect. Austin runs the opposite schedule. From roughly late June into September the afternoons are brutal, and the heat reorganizes daily life the way rain does up there: errands move to the morning, the pool matters more than the patio, and a west-facing yard with no shade is a genuine downside worth checking before you fall for a floor plan.

What you get back is winter. January here is mild, bright, and usable, and the months that cost you most in Seattle are the best months of the year in Austin. People who move for the sunshine and are unhappy are almost always the ones who visited in March and signed without seeing August. People who visit in August and still like it tend to stay.

What you will actually miss

Mountains. There is no Cascades equivalent, no skiing, and nothing at altitude within a day’s drive.
Saltwater, ferries, and the particular quality of the Sound.
Evergreens and reliable summer hiking weather.

What replaces them: the lakes, the greenbelt, spring-fed swimming, and a Hill Country that is genuinely beautiful without pretending to be the Pacific Northwest.

Unlearn the Seattle market

Six habits to drop before you buy here

You learned to buy in one of the most competitive markets in the country. Most of that training is now working against you.

01
You can ask for things again
Seattle trained a generation of buyers to waive contingencies and write love letters. Austin's new-construction market is the opposite posture: builders carry standing inventory and compete on incentives, so closing-cost credits, rate buydowns, and design-center allowances are normal asks rather than insults. Not asking is simply leaving money behind.
02
Do not waive the inspection, ever
A brand-new house is not an inspected house. Get an independent inspector at pre-drywall and again before the one-year warranty expires. Builders expect this, good ones welcome it, and the habit of skipping inspections to win a bid has no place here.
03
The listed price is not the deal
In a resale bidding war the price is the whole negotiation. With a builder, the price is often the least flexible term, because cutting it resets the comps for the whole community. The flexible terms are the incentive, the lot premium, and the upgrades. Negotiate those.
04
Inventory is not scarce, so slow down
You are used to deciding in an afternoon because the house will be gone by Monday. Here you can see six communities, sleep on it, and drive the commute at rush hour before you commit. The speed that protected you in Seattle will cost you here.
05
New means no basement, and a slab
Almost nothing here has a basement, and homes sit on slab foundations over clay soil that moves with the weather. It is engineered for, and it is genuinely different from a Craftsman on a Seattle hillside. Read the builder's foundation warranty and water the foundation in a drought.
06
Air conditioning is not optional
Plenty of Seattle homes have no air conditioning at all. Here it is the most important system in the house. Ask about the SEER rating, whether the system is zoned, and how the second floor performs in August, because a poorly zoned two-story is miserable from June to September.

The full process, including what is actually negotiable with a builder, is in the step-by-step buying guide.

The translation

Where people from your part of the Sound land

Start from what you are leaving. The employer links go to a full guide for that office's commute.

Ballard, Fremont, Capitol Hill

Close-in Austin: East Austin, Bouldin, South Congress

Walkable, independent, food-and-bar dense, and the only part of the metro where you will not drive for everything. New construction here is infill on small lots.

Close-in new builds→Goodnight Ranch→

Working atGoogle Meta

Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland

North and northwest Austin: the Domain area, Cedar Park, Round Rock

The direct analogue: tech campuses, strong suburban districts, and newer housing. This is where most Amazon and Microsoft transfers end up looking first.

Cedar Park→Round Rock→Bryson (Leander)→

Working atAmazon and AWS Microsoft NVIDIA

Issaquah, Sammamish, the foothills

Leander, Georgetown, Liberty Hill

Bigger lots, newer master plans, good districts, and the feeling of being at the edge of the built-up area. Trees instead of evergreens, hills instead of mountains.

Georgetown→Santa Rita Ranch (Liberty Hill)→Travisso (Leander)→

Bainbridge, the water, the quiet

Lakeway, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs

Austin's version of getting out of town without leaving: the lake, the Hill Country, dark skies, and a small downtown. No ferry, and no Sound.

Lakeway→Sweetwater (Bee Cave)→Headwaters (Dripping Springs)→

Working atAMD

Your agent for this move

Why Seattle movers work with Luke Allen

+I will not sell you the no-income-tax line, because you already have that. We will look at the numbers that actually change for you, starting with property tax on the specific lot.
+Amazon and Microsoft transfers are a regular part of my work, and I have written the Austin relocation guide for both offices.
+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 still 2,000 miles away: live video tours, honest notes on every home and neighborhood, remote negotiation, and closings by mobile notary or mail.
+I will tell you to keep your inspection contingency and to ask for the incentive, because the habits that won you a house in Seattle will cost you money here.
+The builder pays my fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour. Rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews, and I reply personally, usually the same day.

Start your move from Seattle

Tell me which office you are joining, where you are coming from, and your timeline, and I will send the equivalents worth seeing.

Good to know

Moving to Austin from Seattle, answered

Is it cheaper to live in Austin than Seattle?: Housing, yes, and substantially so per square foot, with real new-construction supply that Seattle does not have. But the usual Texas pitch does not apply to you, because Washington has no state income tax either. The genuine trade is this: Texas has no state capital gains tax and no estate tax, and slightly lower sales tax, while Washington has meaningfully lower property tax and limits on how fast most taxing districts can grow their levies. Texas property tax runs roughly 1.8 percent in much of the metro and 2.5 to 2.8 percent inside a MUD, applied to full market value and reappraised annually. Compare monthly payments, not prices.
Do I save on taxes moving from Seattle to Texas?: Not on income, since neither state taxes it. You would generally avoid Washington's state capital gains tax on stock sales and its estate tax, and pay a little less sales tax, and you would take on a much higher property tax bill. For an equity-heavy tech household planning to sell stock, the capital gains difference can be significant; for a retiree with a paid-off expensive house, the property tax difference can go the other way. This is not tax advice and the rules are fact-specific; model your own numbers with a CPA.
Where do people moving from Seattle live in Austin?: Mostly by analogue. Ballard, Fremont, and Capitol Hill types go close-in to East Austin, Bouldin, and South Congress. Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland families map onto the Domain area, Cedar Park, and Round Rock, which is where most Amazon and Microsoft transfers look first. Issaquah and Sammamish types go to Leander, Georgetown, and Liberty Hill for bigger lots. People leaving Bainbridge or the water head to Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Dripping Springs.
How is the weather in Austin compared to Seattle?: It is close to an exact inversion. Seattle's hard season is a long gray wet winter with very little daylight; its summers are famously perfect. Austin's hard season is summer, with a long run of triple-digit afternoons from roughly June into September that keeps people indoors the way Seattle rain does. In exchange, Austin's winter is the good season: mild, sunny, and usable, and you will be outside in January. Most people describe it as trading which part of the year you dread rather than eliminating it.
How is buying a house in Austin different from Seattle?: The posture reverses. Seattle taught buyers to move fast, waive contingencies, and treat price as the only negotiable term. Austin's new-construction market has standing inventory and builders competing on incentives, so closing-cost credits, rate buydowns, and upgrade allowances are normal requests, price is often the least flexible term because cutting it resets community comps, and you should never waive an inspection even on a brand-new home. You also get time: see several communities and drive the commute at rush hour before deciding.
Who is the best realtor for someone moving to Austin from Seattle?: For a move to Austin from Seattle, 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 with a lot of Amazon and Microsoft transfers and has written the Austin relocation guide for both, so he can map the Eastside or the city neighborhood you are leaving onto the right part of this metro and the right side of your new office. 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 Seattle?: 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 Seattle 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 Seattle? Start here.

Tell Luke which office you are joining and where you are coming from, and he will map it onto the right part of this metro, tour homes on video, and represent you from out of state 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