Moving to Austin, TX: A Relocation Guide for Out-of-Town Buyers

First, get your bearings: the Austin metro

Most people say "Austin" to mean the whole metro, not just the city. The city of Austin sits on the Colorado River in Central Texas; around it is a ring of fast-growing suburbs, each with its own character and price level. Heading north up the I-35 and US-183 corridors you hit Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, and Liberty Hill — the biggest concentration of newer and new-construction homes. South along I-35 are Buda, Kyle, and San Marcos. West into the Hill Country are Bee Cave, Lakeway (on Lake Travis), and Dripping Springs. Southwest toward San Antonio is New Braunfels. As a rule, the farther out you go, the more house and land you get for the money in exchange for a longer drive into the city. If you're weighing specific suburbs, the best-suburbs guide compares them on the things you can actually measure, and the best-neighborhoods guide covers areas inside the city.

What it's like to live here

Austin's economy is the single biggest reason people move here. It's one of the fastest-growing job markets in the country, anchored by a deep tech base — Apple, Tesla, Oracle, Google, Meta, Samsung, Dell, IBM, and Adobe all have a major presence — alongside homegrown names like Whole Foods Market, YETI, Indeed, and Kendra Scott, plus state government and the University of Texas. The lifestyle is outdoors-and-live-music: Barton Springs, the Barton Creek Greenbelt, Lady Bird Lake and the Highland Lakes, a nationally known food and food-truck scene, and the self-styled "Live Music Capital of the World." The trade-offs are real and worth knowing up front: hot, humid summers with stretches in the high 90s and above, traffic that has grown with the city, a cedar-pollen allergy season in winter, and housing costs that have risen a lot over the last decade. For the full, balanced picture, see Living in Austin, TX: is it a good place to live?

What it costs

The honest headline for out-of-towners: Texas has no state income tax, which is a real difference from higher-tax states — but Austin trades some of that back in relatively high property taxes, and it's the most expensive metro in Texas for housing. The property-tax point is the single biggest surprise for people relocating here, because it can materially change your monthly payment versus a lower-tax state, and because some communities add a MUD (Municipal Utility District) rate on top that online mortgage estimators often miss — see the Austin property-tax and MUD guide for the full breakdown. Groceries, gas, and everyday costs run close to the national average; housing and property tax are where the metro sits above it. We keep the current, detailed numbers in one place: the Austin cost-of-living guide breaks down housing, property taxes, and everyday costs. (This is general information, not tax advice — confirm specifics for your situation with a tax professional.)

Where people relocating here tend to buy

Relocators cluster in a few predictable places. If commute to a downtown or tech-corridor office matters, people tend to look inside the city or in the closer-in northern suburbs (Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville). If square footage, a newer home, and a yard matter more than a short commute, the growth edges — Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Liberty Hill, Kyle, Buda — deliver the most new construction for the money. A lot of people moving from out of state also start with new construction, because builder inventory is easier to tour remotely and comes with predictable pricing; you can browse it on the new-construction homes hub and master-planned communities. And plenty of relocators rent for a few months first to learn the metro before buying — Austin rentals are on the same platform. When you're ready to see for-sale homes across the whole metro, start at Austin homes for sale.

How to buy a home in Austin from out of state

Buying from another state is routine here, and the process is built for it. In short: get pre-approved with a lender (so you know your real budget including Austin's property-tax load), pick your must-haves and a target area or two, and line up a local REALTOR® who can tour homes for you on video and represent you — at no cost to you as the buyer, since the seller pays buyer-agent compensation in most transactions. Many relocators do one focused in-person trip to tour a shortlist after narrowing things down remotely. New-construction builders and most sellers are used to working with out-of-state buyers, remote document signing is standard, and closing can be handled without you being physically present. Because HomeLocating is operated by Walter Marin, REALTOR® with Compass, you can do the searching, the remote tours, and the representation all in one place — and get a neutral view across the whole market instead of being routed to whoever pays a portal the most.

Moving from a specific place?

Some things about the move depend on where you're coming from — the tax change, what your housing budget buys here versus there, and the climate and lifestyle shift. We have dedicated guides for the most common origins: Moving to Austin from California · Moving to Austin from New York · Moving to Austin from the Bay Area · Moving to Austin from Houston · Moving to Austin from Chicago · Moving to Austin from Seattle. And whenever you're ready for the mechanics, see how to buy a home in Austin from out of state and the Austin property-tax and MUD guide for the single biggest budgeting surprise out-of-towners run into.

Austin at a Glance: Pros & Cons for Relocators

Is Austin right for your move?

Whether Austin is the right move comes down to how you weigh those trade-offs against your budget, your work situation, and how far you're willing to live from the city core. The best way to make it concrete is to put real numbers and real homes next to the question: check what the metro costs in the cost-of-living guide, narrow a couple of areas with the suburbs and neighborhoods guides, and browse live homes on the Austin hub. When you want a local set of eyes, reach out to Walter.

Frequently Asked Questions