An insider's guide to relocating to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas, is a wonderful place to live and has been a go-to location for people looking to relocate from other states for quite some time. Greater Austin was the fastest-growing large metro area in the United States for 12 years, from 2011 to 2023 (in 2024, it slipped to the number 2 slot).
The draw is easy to understand because Austin has a lot to offer. In addition to no state income taxes, a lower cost of living than many U.S. states, and some outstanding public schools, it is also naturally beautiful, with rolling hills; rivers, streams, and lakes; and many trees and foliage (not what you would imagine for Texas). Austin is also a fun place to live, with a wide variety of outdoor activities, great food and nightlife, and tons of live music - hence the title "The Live Music Capital of the World." As the Texas State Capital and home to the prestigious University of Texas, the city also exudes a sense of culture and progress. It stands to reason that many are thinking of moving to Austin Texas. Many of these people are making the move to Austin from California.
Austin has been considered cool and interesting for a long time, just on a smaller scale. As recent as the 1980s, Austin had a low-key, artsy, small-town feel, and people liked it that way. Residents prided themselves in being more liberal than the rest of Texas and coined the phrase "Keep Austin Weird." With the help of incentives and active recruiting, Austin has experienced a considerable business boom, particularly from the technology sector. As companies relocated, the population surged, the downtown skyline grew, and developers built lots of housing beyond the city center.
Greater Austin now spreads north to Round Rock (home to Dell Computers), south to San Marcos (home of Texas State University), east to Bastrop (home to several of Elon Musk's companies), and west to the Lake Travis area. The enlargement of the area is still underway. Samsung Computers is building a large campus in Taylor, Texas, north of Round Rock, and the corridor between Bastrop and San Antonio continues to fill in. Similar to Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin-San Antonio will someday be a recognized metroplex. Austin suburbs extend west to Lake Travis, and developments continue to spring up west along Highway 71. In a nutshell, Greater Austin is sprawling and continuing to expand.
This Guide aims to help people understand how to move to Austin Texas. Since I made this move in 2023, I know how hard it can be to understand the housing and lifestyle options available. There are many great places to live in Greater Austin, but I have highlighted the areas most appealing to people moving from another state for this guide. It will help you get a lay of the land and have the knowledge needed to have more informative discussions with your real estate professional. The areas I highlight are of my own making and intended to give you a quick overview of your housing options within proximity to downtown Austin. Ultimately, nothing substitutes getting "boots on the ground" to check it out for yourself.
Enjoy!
Carrie Benuska Leinen has first-hand experience moving from California to Austin. She moved in 2023, after a lifetime in California, and has experienced the excitement and adjustments of navigating to a new city. It was an excellent move for Carrie; she is passionate about helping others make a similar transition.
Her clients appreciate her first-hand out-of-state relocation experience and network of reliable contractors for needed renovations after close. Providing a combination of advice and empathetic listening, she is there to help her clients navigate the excitement and stress of moving.
Carrie loves helping people buy and sell Austin real estate and has fun doing it! She'd love to help you, too!
Austin has a diverse supply of single-family homes. Austin started as a small town focused around the Texas State Capital and developed outward over time. The neighborhoods closest to Downtown Austin are fully developed with limited land available. Historic homes date back to the late 1800’s, including impressive, large homes down to simple, small bungalows. As Austin developed, newer neighborhoods were built, expanding the city's footprint.
Recently, luxury home builders have flocked to downtown neighborhoods to build large, lavish custom homes. These new homes are often modern, take up much of the lot, and fetch a very high price. They are often out of proportion with the neighboring houses in terms of size and price, creating non-conformity. It makes some of these neighborhoods hard to track with traditional statistics. You can have an unimproved 1,100-square-foot home built in 1910 next to a 4,500-square-foot home built in 2024. Interestingly, the lack of conformity does not deter buyers from scooping up the beautiful new ones. Some of these gorgeous new homes are located near or adjacent to commercial space, breaking some of the standard rules of desirable real estate siting.
There is another trend that newcomers to town must be aware of. To combat affordability issues, Austin passed a building code allowing owners to subdivide parcels over a specific size into three separate parcels. Developers can now tear down the original house and build up to three multi-level homes. Rather than owning an undivided interest in the land the house sits on, these homeowners get a shared interest in the original land. Therefore, the homes sit very close together and tend to be vertical in design. Like the luxury homes discussed above, these new home clusters often differ in design from surrounding houses. You might see an address with a unit number when viewing them online.
As you move out of downtown Austin, most of the housing is located within planned developments. In California, I would have referred to them as tract houses. The developments vary in quality of construction, architectural design, price, and level of amenities. Most of these homes are warm and natural and would fall into an architectural style called “Texas Tuscan,” featuring quite a bit of stone or masonry to combat the high humidity. Newer, more contemporary developments are springing up, but the Texas Tuscan style is the norm. No matter what direction you drive outside of Austin, this type of housing can be found. This is where things become a bit complicated because there is A LOT of it!
The Colorado River (not THE Colorado River) meanders through Greater Austin. Famous sections like Lake Austin and Ladybird Lake look more like rivers than lakes. Lake Travis is the only part of the river in Travis County that actually looks like a lake (although the water level is quite low now due to drought).
Texans pay their property taxes in arrears. Homeowners receive a property tax bill in October for the current year (due no later than 1/31).
The Colorado River (not THE Colorado River) meanders through Greater Austin. Famous sections like Lake Austin and Ladybird Lake look more like rivers than lakes. Lake Travis is the only part of the river in Travis County that actually looks like a lake (although the water level is quite low now due to drought).
The Colorado River (not THE Colorado River) meanders through Greater Austin. Famous sections like Lake Austin and Ladybird Lake look more like rivers than lakes. Lake Travis is the only part of the river in Travis County that actually looks like a lake (although the water level is quite low now due to drought).
Your Austin real estate needs are so important. Carrie Leinen is here to help you meet your unique goals. Let’s chat!