Three ready-to-paste posts for Bill Ross, aimed at priced-out California professionals weighing a move to the Texas Hill Country. Two educational posts and one lifestyle post, written plain, sourced, and ready for LinkedIn.
The six pillars
Posts rotate across six content pillars, two educational and one lifestyle or story per batch. This run covers pillars 1, 2, and 3. The next run rotates to pillars 4, 5, and 6.
1
Paycheck math
What a California salary is worth in the Hill Country
2
The questions nobody answers clearly
Homestead exemption, W-2 vs 1099, capital gains, relocation taxes, always with sources
3
Proof of life
Hill Country weekends, dining, rivers, schools
4
Market reality
Boerne and Kendall County numbers and what a dollar buys
5
Bill's story and clients
Decades in high-tech and the network of 1,000+ California agents
6
Referral-partner posts
Written for California agents to send to their clients
Call to action
Every post ends with one of three calls to action: a question in the comments, a direct message, or a visit to the linked movetotexas.net article.
Sources
Every figure is sourced to the linked article or to the Texas Comptroller, Tax Foundation, or state park authority. No invented numbers, events, or client stories.
Tone
Plain and personal, no exclamation points. The Halo Hub link, https://bit.ly/All_About_Bill_Ross, is included where it fits. No duplicated lines from past posts.
Post 1 · Educational Pillar 1 · Paycheck math
What a California salary is worth in the Hill Country
What a California salary is actually worth in the Hill Country is a numbers question, not a vibe question. This is the math I walk through with relocating buyers every week.
Texas has no state income tax. California taxes wage income up to a top marginal rate of 13.3 percent, with the state disability payroll tax on top of it.
For a household earning $200,000, the state income tax and payroll tax line on the California return comes to roughly $12,700 a year. In Texas, that line is zero. Same salary, about $12,700 more in take-home every single year.
The honest counterweight: Texas property taxes run higher than California's, roughly 1.4 to 1.8 percent of value versus about 0.7 percent. A chunk of that $12,700 goes back toward the tax bill on the new house.
That is why the useful comparison is never the income tax line alone. It is salary, housing price, property tax, insurance, and utilities, all in one column.
I put the full comparison and a take-home table you can use for your own income level here: https://movetotexas.net/insights/your-paycheck-in-texas-zero-state-income-tax/
Want me to run the math for your specific salary and target price range? Send me a direct message and I will walk you through it. More on who I am and how I help California buyers: https://bit.ly/All_About_Bill_Ross
Post 2 · Educational Pillar 2 · The questions nobody answers clearly
The Texas homestead exemption, explained plainly
Every California buyer I talk to has heard of the Texas homestead exemption. Almost none of them can say what it actually does. Here is the plain version, with the statute and the tax authority behind it.
It is two layers. On the school district portion of your tax bill, it removes $140,000 from the appraised value before the tax rate is applied. On the county and appraisal district side, a separate general exemption removes $40,000 from county taxes and the taxes of most other local taxing units. One application activates both. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
If you are 65 or older, or disabled, the school district layer increases by another $60,000, which puts $200,000 total off school-taxable value, and your school tax bill freezes at the dollar amount from the first year you qualified. Texas Tax Code Section 11.26.
A few things nobody says out loud: it applies only to your primary residence. Not the rental, not the second home, not the lot next door. You file it with the county appraisal district, it takes one form, and you can file it as soon as you own and occupy the home.
I laid out the filing steps and the 2026 math, line by line, here: https://movetotexas.net/blog/texas-homestead-exemption-how-it-works-savings-filing/
What part of the exemption is still unclear? Ask it in the comments and I will answer with the source. My background and how I work with California buyers: https://bit.ly/All_About_Bill_Ross
Post 3 · Lifestyle Pillar 3 · Proof of life
A Saturday in the Hill Country
This is roughly what a Saturday looks like after a year in the Hill Country. It is the part that surprises new arrivals the most.
Morning at Boerne City Lake. A 200-acre park with about 100 acres of water, open from 5 a.m., a few dollars to enter and free for Boerne residents. Kayaks, paddleboards, an 18-hole disc golf course, and walking trails along Cibolo Creek.
Then the Cave Without a Name, a National Natural Landmark eleven miles northeast of Boerne. A 60-minute guided tour through a living cavern with stalactites and stalagmites, and monthly concerts in one of the underground rooms.
Afternoon on the Guadalupe River. Guadalupe River State Park has tubing and swimming, and a typical float runs two to four hours. In summer the river is the social calendar. In October it is a different place, quieter and slower.
And the schools are part of the picture too. Boerne ISD has earned an A rating from the Texas Education Agency for six straight years. For relocating families that is usually the first line on the list, not the last.
If you want to see what a normal year of weekends looks like for families who made the move, I keep a running guide here: https://movetotexas.net/insights/52-weekends-in-texas-first-year-bucket-list/
What would your ideal Hill Country weekend include? Tell me in the comments. And the full story of why I left Silicon Valley for Boerne is here: https://bit.ly/All_About_Bill_Ross
More about Bill Ross
Nearly four decades in high-tech sales and marketing, now guiding California buyers to the Texas Hill Country through a direct network of 1,000+ California agents.
