Austin realtor launches Texas move-out service
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An Austin realtor has launched Texit, a real estate service aimed at helping Central Texans looking to move out of state.
Why it matters: Citing the state's politics or increasingly hot climate, some Texans have been looking to leave Texas.
Case in point: In 2023, Austin writer and comedian Owen Egerton and his family decamped for Massachusetts, one of many Central Texans to make the move.
- "When we started realizing how dangerous Texas was for families with trans kids, we knew we had to get out of here," he told the Austin Chronicle.
State of play: The Texit service, started by Austin native Lilly Rockwell, doesn't explicitly mention politics.
- But she launched it after noticing "a huge uptick in casual conversations — and with people actually moving after Roe v. Wade was overturned, particularly if they have daughters," she tells Axios.
- Starting Texit is "kinda scary because it's just a very different message from what most realtors put out there," Rockwell says. But, she added: "I'm at ease with working with these types of clients — it's more close to how I feel, it's authentic to who I am."
How it works: The service offers project management for selling a current home and buying a new one, fronting up to $25,000 for home improvements and moving costs — money paid back at closing.
- It also offers a $2,000 listing fee discount, designed to help offset the cost of the move, and access to trusted agents across the country.
- "We'll connect you with a top-performing agent in your new city to help you find the right home and neighborhood," according to the Texit site.
Between the lines: Roughly half of Rockwell's business the first half of this year involved out-of-state relocations, Rockwell tells Axios, with clients moving to North Carolina, California, Pennsylvania — and Japan.
Flashback: In 2022, Dallas-based realtor Bob McCranie launched "Flee Texas," to aid LGBTQ+ Texans wanting to depart the state.
By the numbers: Nearly 612,000 people moved to Texas from other states in 2023, compared to 478,000 who left, per Texas Public Radio.
- Texans who moved out of the state that year primarily relocated to Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina.
- Citing economic health as a factor, a 2023 report by the Dallas Fed found that Texas natives are more likely to stay in Texas than their counterparts in other states.