Decision framework
Sometimes the answer is no. We are paid when people move, so take that into account when you read this. The assessment below gives you your answer with nothing asked in return, and if the answer is wait, we say wait. Work through the six questions honestly. If you land on stay, you have saved yourself a very expensive year.
Self assessment
No email, no form, no gate. You answer six questions and you get your answer on this page. Every question below is also written out in full further down, if you would rather just read.
Six questions
Good answers sound like: our payment is unsustainable on one income, we want to be near my mother, we cannot insure this house anymore. Vague answers sound like: California is just not what it was. Vague reasons do not survive month four in a new state, and they are the ones that produce a second move.
Reason to wait: You cannot finish the sentence without a paragraph.
Get remote approval in writing, with the new state named, before you list anything. If you are self employed, ask whether your clients are local. If you are retired, income travels fine, but check how the destination treats retirement income and whether your health plan network exists there.
Reason to wait: Your employer has not confirmed the move in writing, or your book of business is regional.
Not a spring visit. Gulf coast in August, Midwest in February, Phoenix in July, Mountain West in mud season. Rent a place there for two weeks in the bad season if you can. This one test prevents more reversals than any other.
Reason to wait: You have only been there on vacation, or not at all.
Selling costs, the capital gains position on a long-held California home, the property tax basis you give up if you are protected under Proposition 13, and the cost of the move itself. A CPA hour before you list is the cheapest hour in this entire process.
Reason to wait: You have not spoken to a tax professional about the gain on your current home.
A spouse who is going along with it is not the same as a spouse who wants it. Teenagers in high school pay the highest price of anyone in a relocation, and a move mid-junior-year is a different decision than a move after graduation. Aging parents you currently see weekly become a flight, not a drive.
Reason to wait: One adult in the household is agreeing rather than choosing, or a child is two years or less from graduating.
Re-entry into the California market after selling is hard and gets harder the longer you wait. If there is a real chance you return, consider whether the first year should be a rental in the new state instead of a purchase. You lose the credit that way, and you keep the option.
Reason to wait: You would be devastated to be locked out of California, and you are not confident in the destination.
Two or more of these and the honest recommendation is to wait a year and revisit. The equity is not going anywhere, and neither are we.
If most of these describe you, the next useful step is numbers rather than more reading.
Close the tab. You do not owe us a form submission, and there is nothing here that gets better by being pressured. If your situation changes, the state comparisons will still be here.
If the answer is not yet, the most useful thing you can do in the meantime is spend a week in your top destination during its hardest month, and get one hour with a CPA about the gain on your current home. Both are cheap. Both change decisions.
