By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
No state income tax is real and housing is cheaper than Nassau County, though Austin is the most expensive part of Texas and the gap is narrower than most relocation content suggests. Two things a Long Island buyer has no framework for. Central Texas sits in what's called Flash Flood Alley, where the risk is creek and river driven rather than coastal — a property well away from any visible water can be exposed, and the maps matter more than intuition. And expansive clay soils make foundation movement the defining inspection question in Texas, in a way that has no Long Island equivalent.
Start With the Long Island Sale
At roughly 1,700 miles, coordinating two closings is impractical and the Long Island transaction sets the budget. Before touring anything, know what the current home nets — commission, New York State Transfer Tax at four dollars per thousand, attorney fees generally $1,500 to $3,500, preparation, and carrying costs. The full breakdown of what a Long Island sale costs covers each line.
A seller who establishes Texas residency before the Long Island closing becomes a New York nonresident for that transaction, triggering Form IT-2663 — an estimated payment at closing of 8.82 percent of net gain. That's a prepayment rather than an additional tax, refundable where the real figure comes in lower, but it reduces the wire and it catches people who have already committed the proceeds. For a long-held home, the exclusion covers $250,000 single and $500,000 filing jointly, and improvement records reduce taxable gain substantially — the full treatment of how gain is calculated covers the mechanics. Sell first.
Flash Flood Alley
This is the item most worth understanding before choosing a neighborhood, and it isn't what a Long Island buyer expects hazard to look like.
Central Texas has some of the most severe flash flooding risk in the country, driven by a combination of terrain, soil that absorbs little, and storms that can drop enormous rainfall in a short window. The water moves through creeks, low crossings, and river channels rather than arriving from a coastline — which means the mental model a Long Island buyer brings, where proximity to visible water indicates risk, doesn't transfer. A property a mile from anything that looks like water can sit in a floodplain, and one overlooking a creek can be well above it. Elevation and drainage decide it, not the view.
What that means practically is that the standard flood questions carry more weight here than the climate section of a relocation article suggests. Flood zone designation on the specific address. Whether an elevation certificate exists. National Flood Insurance Program claim history, which attaches to the address permanently and does not reset on sale. And whether the property's access roads involve low water crossings, which is a Central Texas question with no Long Island analogue and which affects whether a household can get in and out during a storm. The full treatment of flood zone questions covers the federal mechanics, which are identical wherever you are — the difference is entirely in where the water comes from.
The Ground Moves
Foundation movement is the defining inspection issue in Texas residential real estate, and it's the thing New York buyers most consistently underestimate because nothing in their experience prepares them for it.
Much of Central Texas sits on expansive clay soils that swell when wet and shrink when dry, with limestone underneath in places. Over a long dry season followed by heavy rain — which is the normal weather pattern rather than an unusual one — the soil under a slab foundation moves, and the slab moves with it. Some movement is expected and ordinary. Some indicates a problem that needs engineering attention. Telling them apart is what a structural engineer does, and in Texas a buyer commonly retains one separately from the general home inspector.
Three consequences for a buyer. A foundation repair history is not automatically disqualifying — repairs are common and many are properly engineered and warrantied, with documentation. What matters is whether the work was done by a qualified contractor, whether there's a transferable warranty, and whether an engineer has evaluated it since. It affects insurability and resale, so a property with undocumented movement is harder to insure and harder to sell later. And drainage is the controllable variable — grading, gutters, and how water moves away from the slab affect how much the soil under a house cycles, which is why the inspection question and the flooding question are connected rather than separate.
Ask for any foundation repair documentation, ask whether an engineer has evaluated the property, and budget for a structural evaluation on anything showing signs. That's routine practice in Texas and unfamiliar coming from here.
The Tax Trade, Stated Properly
Texas has no state income tax, and for a household with substantial earned income that is a genuine, recurring advantage. It's also the reason for the other half of the picture, which relocation content tends to soften.
Texas has among the highest effective property tax rates in the country, and the two facts are connected rather than coincidental — the state funds itself substantially through property taxation because it doesn't tax income. For a Nassau County seller the comparison is closer than expected: Texas rates are high applied to lower values, New York rates are lower applied to higher ones, and the net result depends on the specific property rather than on a state average. Pull the actual current tax bill on anything under consideration rather than reasoning from a headline.
Two things reduce the bill and neither is automatic. The homestead exemption requires application, and so does the annual appraisal cap that limits how much taxable value can rise on a homesteaded property — a new owner who doesn't file pays more than necessary, which is the same trap Nevada, Vermont, Maine, and Florida each produce in their own form. Texas is also a non-disclosure state, meaning sale prices aren't publicly recorded, which makes independent comp verification harder than it is here. The full Texas treatment covers all of it along with MUD districts, which levy additional taxes in newer developments and don't appear in listing prices.
Austin is the most expensive part of Texas, which is worth saying because the state-level affordability story doesn't fully apply here. Housing remains cheaper than Nassau or Suffolk, but the gap is narrower than a Texas-wide comparison suggests, and the desirable parts of the metro have closed it further.
Buying and the Western Hills
Texas closings run through title companies with no attorney necessarily involved on either side, which is a real adjustment from New York where contract drafting and negotiation are reserved to licensed counsel and the seller's attorney runs the closing. A buyer who wants legal review retains one separately and pays for it — worth deciding before the transaction rather than partway through. The fuller picture of what the attorney handles here describes what you'd be giving up.
One more for anyone looking west of the city. The hill country side of the metro sits in wildland interface, and insurance availability there can be a constraint rather than just a cost — a lender won't close without bindable coverage, so a buyer who can't obtain a policy on a specific property can't buy it. That's the same dynamic flagged in Colorado and California. Get actual quotes on specific addresses before making an offer, and expect deductibles that may be expressed as a percentage of insured value rather than a flat amount.
A Worked Example
Consider a composite case — a Nassau County household relocating for an Austin-area position, selling a colonial that comped near $1,090,000.
Two discoveries changed their search. The first was the flood map. A property they liked sat well back from anything they'd have identified as water, and it was partly within a mapped floodplain because of a creek they hadn't registered as significant. Their agent pulled the designation before they offered, which they'd never have thought to request.
The second was a foundation. A different property had documented repair work from 2016 with a transferable warranty and an engineer's evaluation from two years later. Their instinct was to walk. Their inspector's view was that documented, engineered, warrantied repair was better than an undocumented house that had never been evaluated — which reframed how they read the rest of their options.
They also learned the homestead exemption required filing, and did it promptly after closing rather than a year late.
On the New York side they sold first. Their attorney's early title review turned up an unclosed 2014 permit, resolved in six weeks before listing.
Where to Start
Build the net-proceeds model on the Long Island home and sell first. Call the town or village building department about permits. Engage a New York real estate attorney early and talk to a CPA about IT-2663 and capital gains before setting a closing date.
On the Austin side: pull the flood zone designation and any elevation certificate on every specific address, and ask about low water crossings on the access roads. Ask for foundation repair documentation and whether an engineer has evaluated the property, and budget for a structural evaluation where anything shows. Pull the actual property tax bill rather than a regional figure, and find out what the homestead exemption and appraisal cap filings require. If you're looking west, get insurance quotes before offering. And decide whether you want your own counsel, since none comes with a title company closing.
Sellers wanting a current read on where their Long Island home sits can start with a quiet look at present value.
The Honest Bottom Line
The no-income-tax advantage is real and recurring, and for most Long Island households the move improves the financial picture. What deserves more honesty than it usually gets is that Texas pays for that with property taxes among the highest in the country, and that Austin is the most expensive place in the state to test the proposition.
The two things worth asking before an offer are both invisible in a listing. Whether the property sits in a floodplain, which in Central Texas has little to do with whether you can see water from it. And what the ground under it has been doing, which is a question with documented answers on some houses and no answer at all on others — and the difference between those two is worth more than most buyers realize.
For anyone working through what their Long Island home would net before any of that begins, that conversation is available whenever the timing suits.
This is general information, not legal, tax, insurance, engineering, or financial advice. Texas property tax provisions, exemption and appraisal cap requirements, flood designations, and insurance availability vary and change. Confirm current specifics with a Texas attorney, the county appraisal district, licensed engineers, and an insurance professional, and confirm New York specifics with a licensed New York real estate attorney and a CPA.
FAQs
Why does flooding matter so much in Austin?
Because Central Texas sits in what's called Flash Flood Alley, and the risk is creek and river driven rather than coastal. Terrain, soil that absorbs little, and storms that drop enormous rainfall in short windows combine to move water through channels and low crossings — which means the Long Island mental model, where proximity to visible water signals risk, doesn't transfer. A property a mile from anything that looks like water can sit in a floodplain. Pull the flood zone designation and any elevation certificate on the specific address, check NFIP claim history, which attaches permanently and doesn't reset on sale, and ask whether access roads involve low water crossings.
What should I know about foundations in Texas?
That foundation movement is the defining inspection issue there, and nothing in a New York buyer's experience prepares them for it. Expansive clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, so a slab moves with the ground beneath it across normal seasonal cycles. Some movement is ordinary; some needs engineering attention, and buyers commonly retain a structural engineer separately from the general inspector. A repair history isn't automatically disqualifying — what matters is whether the work was engineered, whether there's a transferable warranty, and whether an engineer has evaluated it since. Undocumented movement is harder to insure and harder to resell.
Are Texas property taxes really that high?
Yes, and the two facts most people cite are connected rather than balanced. Texas has among the highest effective property tax rates in the country precisely because it doesn't tax income — the state funds itself through property taxation instead. For a Nassau County seller the comparison is closer than expected: high rates on lower values against lower rates on higher ones, with the net result depending on the specific property. Pull the actual bill. Two things reduce it and neither is automatic — the homestead exemption and the annual appraisal cap both require application, and a new owner who doesn't file pays more than necessary.
Is Austin as affordable as the rest of Texas?
No, and this is worth knowing before relying on state-level comparisons. Austin is the most expensive part of Texas, and the desirable parts of the metro have narrowed the gap with Long Island considerably. Housing remains cheaper than Nassau or Suffolk, but a Texas-wide affordability figure overstates what a household will find in Austin specifically. Combine that with property tax rates among the nation's highest, and the financial case rests more on the absence of income tax than on housing cost alone.
Does Texas require an attorney to buy a home?
No. Texas closings run through title companies, with no attorney necessarily involved on either side. For a New York seller accustomed to counsel drafting the contract, negotiating on their behalf, and running the closing, that's a real adjustment, and a buyer who wants legal review retains one separately and pays for it. Worth deciding before the transaction starts rather than partway through — particularly given the foundation and flood questions, where having someone reviewing on your behalf has real value.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens Associate Broker | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanre.com | theericbermanteam.com
