Priced Out, Fed Up, or Ready to Cash Out? See What California Money Buys in Boerne.

California RelocationBoerne Real EstateTexas Hill CountryLuxury Homes

Apr 23

For many California homeowners, the question is no longer whether Texas is cheaper. It is whether staying in California still makes sense when the same equity can buy a radically different life.

That is what this comparison is really about.

I looked at three real homes. The first is 491 Bird Avenue in Los Gatos, which sold for $3,200,000. The second is 179 Riverwood in Boerne, listed at the same $3,200,000. The third is 113 Dang Pretty in Boerne, listed at roughly half the Los Gatos sale price. What makes this exercise interesting is not simply that Texas is less expensive in some categories. It is that these homes show, in plain English and hard numbers, how dramatically different the outcome can be when a California buyer brings serious equity into Texas Hill Country. [1][3][6]

Start with the same money

The Los Gatos home is a solid, attractive property in one of the most desirable towns in California. But it is still a 1,996-square-foot house on a 5,250-square-foot lot. At the same $3.2 million price point, the Boerne comparison property is not a slightly larger version of that home. It is a 4,594-square-foot Hill Country estate on 9.28 acres. And the lower-priced Boerne property at 113 Dang Pretty still offers 4,509 square feet on 1.13 acres. That is the story. This is not a small difference. It is a different category of living. [1][3][6]

  
    
        Property
        Price
        Living Area
        Lot Size
        Beds / Baths
        Approx. Price per Sq. Ft.
      

    
        491 Bird Ave, Los Gatos, CA
        $3,200,000
        1,996 sq. ft.
        5,250 sq. ft. (0.12 acres)
        3 / 3
        $1,603
      

        179 Riverwood, Boerne, TX
        $3,200,000
        4,594 sq. ft.
        9.28 acres
        4 / 5
        $697
      

        113 Dang Pretty, Boerne, TX
        $1,594,900
        4,509 sq. ft.
        1.13 acres
        5 / 6
        $354
      

  

Look at those numbers for what they are. At the same headline price, 179 Riverwood gives a buyer more than 2.3 times the interior space and roughly 77 times the land of the Los Gatos home. Even the roughly half-priced 113 Dang Pretty still delivers more than 2.25 times the interior space and more than 9 times the land. This is not about shaving a little off the price per square foot. It is about escaping California’s housing compression altogether.

Now look at the monthly payment honestly

Here is where too many relocation pieces get sloppy. They imply that Texas automatically wins on every monthly housing cost. That is not true.

Texas often carries higher property tax rates, and in some segments it can also carry meaningfully higher insurance costs. So I did not force the numbers to tell a fairy tale. I ran them straight.

For all three properties, I assumed the same $1,404,000 down payment. For the Los Gatos home and 179 Riverwood, that leaves a $1,796,000 loan. For 113 Dang Pretty, that leaves a loan of only $190,900. I used a 30-year fixed mortgage at 6%. Property tax on Bird Avenue is estimated by applying the home’s recent effective tax rate from public tax history to the new sale price. Riverwood’s tax rate is estimated from the published Cordillera Ranch area rate of 1.3929%. 113 Dang Pretty’s tax rate is estimated from the published George’s Ranch WCID 4A rate of 2.1429%. Insurance is also an estimate: I used 0.182% of value for Los Gatos, based on California single-family median insurance cost as a share of home value, and a conservative 0.80% for the two Boerne homes, based on a nearby Riverwood luxury-listing insurance assumption. Those insurance figures are estimates, not carrier quotes. [2][4][5][7][8][9]

  
    
        Property
        Down Payment
        Loan Amount
        Estimated Tax Rate
        Estimated Annual Taxes
        Estimated Insurance Rate
        Estimated Annual Insurance
        Monthly Principal & Interest
        Estimated Monthly PITI
      

    
        491 Bird Ave, Los Gatos, CA
        $1,404,000
        $1,796,000
        1.2072% (estimated)
        $38,631.62
        0.1820% (estimated)
        $5,824.00
        $10,767.93
        $14,472.56
      

        179 Riverwood, Boerne, TX
        $1,404,000
        $1,796,000
        1.3929% (estimated)
        $44,572.80
        0.8000% (estimated)
        $25,600.00
        $10,767.93
        $16,615.66
      

        113 Dang Pretty, Boerne, TX
        $1,404,000
        $190,900
        2.1429% (estimated)
        $34,177.11
        0.8000% (estimated)
        $12,759.20
        $1,144.88
        $5,055.90
      

  

That table tells an important truth. If a buyer insists on spending the same $3.2 million in Texas, the monthly payment is not automatically lower. In this case, it is estimated to be higher on Riverwood than on Bird Avenue because Texas property taxes and insurance are heavier in that luxury segment.

But that is not the real Texas advantage.

The real advantage shows up when a California seller stops thinking, “What can I buy in Texas for the same price?” and starts asking, “What can my California equity do for me in Texas?” On 113 Dang Pretty, the same $1,404,000 down payment turns into an estimated monthly PITI of about $5,056. Compared with the Los Gatos house, that is roughly $9,417 less per month, or about $113,000 less per year in carrying cost. That is not a slogan. That is budget-changing math.

The California pressure is not just about price

For many California families, the pain is cumulative. It is the house price, yes. But it is also the sense that they are fighting a system that keeps demanding more while giving them less. Less land. Less privacy. Less breathing room. Less confidence that the next tax bill, insurance renewal, or regulatory headache will stay manageable.

That is why this comparison matters. Los Gatos is a beautiful town. Nobody is pretending otherwise. But when $3.2 million buys under 2,000 square feet on about one-eighth of an acre, the issue is no longer whether California is desirable. The issue is whether the value equation still works for normal family life.

Boerne and the Texas Hill Country offer a different answer. Not a miracle. Not perfection. A different answer. More land. Larger homes. More elbow room. In many cases, the ability to move from being financially squeezed to being strategically positioned.

For young families, this is where the conversation gets serious

A young couple with children does not experience this difference as an abstract spreadsheet. They experience it in daily life.

They experience it in whether one bedroom has to double as an office. They experience it in whether the kids have room to spread out. They experience it in whether grandparents can stay over comfortably. They experience it in whether the lot feels like a postage stamp or a place to actually live. They experience it in whether one income interruption would turn the household budget into a problem.

That is what makes 113 Dang Pretty especially powerful in this comparison. It is not just cheaper. It changes the risk profile of the household. With California-sized equity, the loan becomes small enough that the monthly payment stops dominating family decision-making.

The real lesson

The honest lesson from these three houses is this: Texas does not always win on every line item, but it can win decisively on overall value and long-term flexibility.

If a California homeowner brings substantial equity to Boerne, Texas Hill Country can offer one of two things. It can offer a much larger, more private, more impressive property at the same headline price. Or it can offer a dramatically lower monthly housing burden while still delivering a home that would feel out of reach in much of coastal California.

Either way, the buyer is no longer trapped in California’s housing math.

And for a lot of families, that is the point.

FAQ

Is Texas property tax always lower than California?

No. Often it is not. In many Texas markets, especially without a homestead exemption in place, the property tax rate can be materially higher than what a California owner is used to seeing. In this comparison, both Boerne properties carry higher estimated tax rates than the Los Gatos home. [2][4][7]

Does that mean Texas is not actually cheaper?

Not at all. It means buyers need to compare the full picture. The same-price Boerne luxury home may not have the lower monthly payment, but it delivers far more house and land. The lower-priced Boerne option is where the monthly advantage becomes overwhelming.

Why is the 179 Riverwood payment higher than the Los Gatos payment?

Because I did not manipulate the assumptions to force a Texas win. At the same loan amount, Riverwood’s higher estimated taxes and insurance push the monthly payment above the Los Gatos home. That strengthens the credibility of the comparison, because it shows the real Texas advantage is value, land, and flexibility, not fantasy math.

Why is 113 Dang Pretty so compelling in this comparison?

Because it shows what happens when California equity is deployed strategically rather than emotionally. The buyer is not just getting a lower price. The buyer is turning a very large California down payment into a very small loan on a large Hill Country home.

What is the bottom line for a California seller thinking about Boerne?

If you already have meaningful equity, Boerne may let you either buy a far more substantial property for the same money or reduce your monthly carrying cost dramatically while still upgrading your quality of life. That is the real relocation story.