My brother and sister and aunt live/work in Austin.
Property taxes are very high. Traffic is tough. Avoid south and East Austin. Schools are actually quite bad in some areas. Getting into UT can take a lot of work and commitment even though my niece got a full scholarship there (sophomore now).
My best advice would be for you to just go there for two-three weeks and look around, visit schools, see actual homes in person. The impression you get online can be very different, especially during the dry/cold Texas winter.
Having grown up in central Texas during my teenage years, I didn’t suffer from it but I knew I would go to college and while I could have stayed there, it wasn’t in my plans.
Homes in nicer neighborhoods in Austin start at 500K with 10-12K/year in property taxes. By comparison the average middle income family in California pays less in property and income taxes. Appreciation in Texas is usually modest.
You will get more space. It’s a good quality of life but more focused on a somewhat different set of activities. Even when the economy is slow restaurants are full.
Personally, I think you should rent out the place here and try it for a year. If things work out well, you can always sell in up to three years without losing the tax free exemption amount. You just need to have lived there two of the last five years.
Good luck with your decision!
As far as Houston, the neighborhoods there are all over the map. There are very exclusive enclaves which are unbelievable but most mid market neighborhoods aren’t that appealing. Do be careful as the last time there was a major oil slump in 1986, real estate in Texas tanked. There are only the first signs of a slowdown now, but anyone who remembers the 80s slump will know that things could deteriorate significantly in a few short years. That was one of the first times a region in the US had large amounts of jingle mail.
