If you're moving here from California, you've probably already done the price math. That part is real. The California median sits at $901,420 and the Bay Area at $1,272,000, while the Austin metro median sits at $412,000.
The price is not what surprises people. What surprises them is how differently everything around the price works: the taxes, the contract, the dirt under the house, and the first ninety days of paperwork. Here's the version I'd want if I were the one packing.
Taxes: the trade you're actually making
Texas has no state income tax. California runs from 1% to 13.3%. That is the headline, and it's true.
The other half of the trade is property tax. Texas funds schools mostly through property tax, so the rate is roughly double what you're used to. Across the Austin metro, combined rates run from about 1.55% to 2.35% of appraised value, depending on which city, county, school district and special districts your address sits in. A Clarksville condo I pulled up this week carries a combined rate of 2.0465%.
Here's a rough example. A household earning $250,000 pays somewhere around $16,000 a year in California state income tax. Buy an $800,000 house in Austin at a 2% rate and the property tax runs about $16,000 a year before exemptions. The same house in California, at a typical 1.1% effective rate, runs about $8,800. So at that income, you come out ahead, but by less than the income tax number alone suggests. The higher the income, the wider the gap in your favor.
| California | Austin, Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | 1% to 13.3% | None |
| Property tax rate | About 1% of purchase price, plus local bonds | About 1.55% to 2.35% of appraised value |
| Annual assessment limit | 2% a year | 10% a year on a homestead |
| Reassessment | At sale | Every year, and you can protest it |
Two things take the edge off.
The homestead exemption. Once you own and live in the house, file for it with the Travis Central Appraisal District (or your county's district if you buy in Williamson or Hays). It removes $140,000 of value from school district taxes, and more if you're 65 or older. On a typical Austin-area school tax rate, that works out to roughly $1,300 to $1,600 a year. It also caps how fast your taxable value can rise at 10% a year. You can file in the same year you buy. It's free and takes about ten minutes online. Every year I meet people who skipped it for three.
The protest. California has Prop 13. Texas has the protest. The appraisal district sends a new value every spring, and you have the right to argue it down. A lot of Austin homeowners protest every single year, and you should plan to be one of them.
One more thing to check before you fall for a house in the suburbs: whether it sits in a MUD (municipal utility district). MUDs pay for the roads and pipes in newer subdivisions, and they add their own line to your tax rate. Two houses at the same price, a mile apart, can carry very different tax bills because of it.
Buying a house here works differently
Sale prices aren't public. Texas is a non-disclosure state. Sellers don't have to report what a house sold for, so county records won't show it, and the online estimates are working with less information than they have in California. The actual sold prices live in the MLS. Lean on your agent's comps, not the website estimate.
The contract is shorter and runs on an option period. Instead of a stack of contingency removal deadlines, the Texas contract gives the buyer an option period. You pay the seller a small option fee, and for the agreed number of days you can walk away for any reason. That's when inspections and most of your homework happen. Negotiate it carefully, because once it ends the leverage shifts.
There's no escrow company. A title company handles the earnest money, the title work, and the closing. By local custom the seller usually pays for the buyer's owner's title policy, though everything is negotiable.
The market is giving buyers room right now. Metro inventory sits at 5.1 months of supply, the median home takes 66 days to sell, and homes are closing at an average of 93.2% of list price. If you're coming from a market where you waived everything and paid over asking, adjust your expectations in the other direction. Inspections, repairs and seller credits are all back on the table.
The house itself
Foundations move. Much of Austin sits on expansive clay. It swells when it's wet and shrinks during drought, and slab foundations move with it. A foundation inspection is worth it on any house with some age on it, and yes, some people here water their foundation in August. It sounds absurd. It works.
Hail, not earthquakes. You'll trade earthquake coverage worries for hail and wind. Roof age and roof material drive insurance quotes more than almost anything else, so ask about the roof early, before you're under contract.
Water moves fast here. Central Texas is called Flash Flood Alley for a reason. Look at the FEMA flood map for any house you're serious about, and look at the creek behind it, not just the lot.
Summer is the season you plan around. California has a winter you stay in for. Austin has an August. Good shade, a working AC system, and a sense of how the house handles west sun matter more than they would in most of California.
Your first 90 days
- Vehicle registration within 30 days. Travis and Williamson counties require a passing emissions inspection first.
- Texas driver license within 90 days, through the Department of Public Safety. Book the appointment early. The wait is the longest part.
- Homestead exemption as soon as you've moved in.
- Cedar fever shows up between December and February. Most newcomers lose a week to it the first winter before they figure out what it is.
Where to start looking
The biggest mistake I see from California buyers is shopping by price per square foot. Everything looks cheap, so the search sprawls across forty miles of metro. Pick the constraint first: the commute, the school district, the budget, or walking to dinner. Then pick the ZIP.
If you want a starting point, what "central Austin" actually means breaks down the seven ZIP codes people call central and what each one costs. The Relocation Guide covers 45 neighborhoods across the metro, and the neighborhood guides go deeper on 30 of them.
And if you want an honest read on where you'd fit, reach out. I'm happy to walk you through it, including the parts of town I'd steer you away from.
Sources: California prices from the California Association of REALTORS® August 2026 sales report (existing single-family homes). Austin figures from Unlock MLS (ACTRIS), August 2026, all property types, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA. Homestead exemption amount per the Texas constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2025. Registration and license deadlines from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The income tax figure is a rough estimate for a married couple filing jointly and is not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your situation. Median sold price is not a guarantee of value for any specific property.