Guide · updated 2026-09-18

How do I handle a luxury move from one state to another?

Hire a separate agent in each state, chosen by closed sales in the price band in that market, and let your tax advisor set the order of operations before either agent lists or offers. The sale is governed by the state you are leaving: transfer taxes, withholding and disclosure rules. The purchase is governed by the state you are entering: agency law, property tax reassessment and mansion taxes.

Two agents, one plan

A referral from your selling agent to an agent in the destination state is common and legitimate; the referring broker receives a share of the fee, and that arrangement should be disclosed. But a referral is a relationship, not a qualification. Pick the destination agent the same way you picked the first one: by closed sales in the price band in that market, verified where public records allow. The state directories on this site link to one another for exactly this reason, so a seller in one state can shortlist agents in another without relying on a single referral. Then decide the sequence: sell first and rent, buy first with bridge or securities-backed financing, or coordinate closings with a leaseback.

The rules change at the state line. Agency law differs: some states default to transaction brokerage, some require written consent for dual agency, some use designated agency. Forms differ: some states mandate detailed seller disclosures, others require almost nothing. Closings differ: attorneys conduct them in some states, title or escrow companies in others. Customs differ on earnest money, inspection periods, due diligence fees and who pays which tax. An agent who works only in the destination state will know all of this; you should still ask, because what you assume from the last transaction is the most common source of error.

Changing your tax domicile is a separate project from buying a house. States that lose high-income residents audit departures, and the test is facts and circumstances: where you spend your days, where your driver's license, voter registration, doctors, clubs and family are, and whether you kept a home in the old state. Buying a home in the new state is evidence, not proof. Keep a day count, file the new state's homestead paperwork if it has one, and talk to your accountant about the timing of the sale, because the state where the property sits taxes the gain on it whether or not you still live there.

New York and New Jersey to Florida

Selling in New York means a seller-paid state transfer tax, with additional city transfer tax in New York City, a mandatory Property Condition Disclosure Statement since March 2024, and an attorney-drafted contract. Your buyer pays the mansion tax, 1 percent statewide at $1 million and graduated in the city to 3.9 percent at $25 million, which is built into what they will offer. On the residency side, New York treats you as a statutory resident if you keep a permanent place of abode in the state and spend more than 183 days there, so keeping a New York apartment after moving to Florida can keep you a New York taxpayer. Sell it or document the days.

Selling in New Jersey involves the seller-paid realty transfer fee, and a 2025 law moved the former buyer-paid 1 percent mansion fee onto sellers with graduated rates that reach 3.5 percent above $3.5 million. New Jersey also requires nonresident sellers to prepay estimated income tax on the gain at closing, commonly called the exit tax, so the order of the move affects the closing statement. Contracts are subject to a three-business-day attorney review period. Both New York and New Jersey are attorney states, and both sales will move faster if the attorney is engaged before the listing.

Buying in Florida is simpler in some ways and different in others. There is no state income tax. Florida presumes a transaction-broker relationship, so ask for single agency in writing if you want a fiduciary. Florida has no statutory disclosure form but sellers must disclose known defects. Property tax resets to your purchase price, and the homestead exemption and its 3 percent assessment cap apply only after you file by March 1. Condos in older multistory buildings carry inspection and reserve requirements under the 2022 reforms. Insurance availability and cost belong in your offer analysis, not after it.

California to Texas and Nevada, Illinois to Arizona

Selling in California means delivering the statewide Transfer Disclosure Statement and Natural Hazard Disclosure, paying county and sometimes city transfer tax, and, for sellers who have already left the state, dealing with the Franchise Tax Board's withholding on many sales unless an exemption such as the principal-residence exemption applies. The larger cost is one you do not pay at closing: a long-held California home carries a Proposition 13 assessed value far below market, and that benefit does not follow you out of state. California's top marginal income tax rate is the highest in the country, and its Franchise Tax Board audits residency changes closely, so document the move.

Buying in Texas means no state income tax, no real estate transfer tax, and some of the highest effective property tax rates in the country; the homestead exemption caps assessed value increases at 10 percent per year, but the starting point is your purchase price. Texas is a non-disclosure state, so comparables come through the MLS, and your agent must give you the Information About Brokerage Services form at first substantive contact. When both sides are in one brokerage the broker acts as intermediary with written consent. Title companies handle closings, and the seller's disclosure notice is a required form.

Buying in Nevada is the other common California exit, and Lake Tahoe is the clearest example, because the lake straddles the state line and the Nevada shore carries no state income tax. Nevada's real property transfer tax is modest; in Clark County it is $2.55 per $500 of value. Nevada limits annual property tax increases to 3 percent on a primary residence. Agents must give you the Duties Owed form, and sellers must provide the Seller's Real Property Disclosure form. Nevada does not adopt Proposition 13, so your assessment is based on Nevada's own system, and the domicile audit risk is entirely on the California side.

Illinois to Arizona swaps a flat 4.95 percent state income tax for Arizona's flat 2.5 percent. Selling in Illinois involves the state and county transfer taxes and, in Chicago, a city transfer tax paid by the buyer with a smaller seller-paid portion, plus the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Report; attorneys customarily handle Chicago-area contracts. Arizona prohibits real estate transfer taxes under a 2008 constitutional amendment, uses escrow and title companies rather than attorneys, and records an affidavit of property value with the deed, so prices are public. Sellers customarily provide the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement, and HOA disclosure packages are required on HOA properties.

Massachusetts to New Hampshire

Selling in Massachusetts means the seller-paid deeds excise of $4.56 per $1,000, a Title 5 septic inspection if the home is not on municipal sewer, and few other mandated disclosures. Massachusetts taxes income at 5 percent and, since tax year 2023, adds a 4 percent surtax on income above $1 million, which includes the taxable gain on a home sale above the federal exclusion. That surtax is a reason many sellers time the sale with their accountant. Massachusetts permits dual agency only with written consent from both sides, and the relationship disclosure is required at the first meeting.

Buying in New Hampshire means no state tax on wages, and the state's tax on interest and dividends was repealed as of 2025. The transfer tax is 1.5 percent of the price, split equally between buyer and seller. New Hampshire's statutory seller disclosures are narrow, covering water supply, sewage disposal and radon and lead notifications, so buyers rely on their own inspections. The seacoast and the Lakes Region hold most of the state's luxury inventory, and the top agents there are a short list; the New Hampshire directory on this site ranks them by documented sale price and volume.

The taxes that follow you

The federal rules are the same everywhere. Gain on a primary residence is excluded up to $250,000 for a single filer or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly if you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before sale. Selling expenses reduce the gain, and documented improvements raise your basis. A 1031 exchange does not apply to a personal residence. If you are not a U.S. person, FIRPTA withholding of generally 15 percent applies to the sale regardless of where you are moving.

State rules are where relocations go wrong. The state where the home sits taxes the gain on its sale whether or not you are still a resident, so moving before you sell does not avoid the departing state's tax on the home; it can, however, change how the rest of that year's income is taxed. Several states withhold from nonresident sellers at closing. The destination state's property tax will be based on what you pay, not what the seller paid, in states that reassess on sale. Put the accountant, the two agents and the closing attorney or escrow officer in one email thread before the first listing goes live.

Where the answer changes

Florida: Florida homestead must be filed by March 1 of the year after purchase to start the exemption and the 3 percent assessment cap. The documentary stamp tax on the deed is a seller cost when you eventually sell, and coastal insurance should be quoted before any contingency is removed.
New York: New York's statutory residency test, a permanent place of abode plus more than 183 days in the state, is the trap for people who keep a city apartment after moving. New York also requires the Property Condition Disclosure Statement on sale and taxes the buyer through the mansion tax.
Texas: Texas has no transfer tax and no public sale prices, requires the Information About Brokerage Services form at first contact, and uses the intermediary rule when one brokerage represents both sides. Property tax is the cost to model, with a 10 percent homestead cap on assessed increases.
Arizona: Arizona's constitution has prohibited real estate transfer taxes since 2008, the state income tax is a flat 2.5 percent, and closings run through escrow and title companies. An affidavit of property value is recorded with the deed, so purchase prices are public.
Massachusetts: Massachusetts sellers pay the deeds excise of $4.56 per $1,000 and must complete a Title 5 septic inspection where applicable. The 4 percent surtax on income above $1 million applies to home-sale gain above the federal exclusion, which makes the timing of a sale a tax decision.