How should we plan around Austin property taxes?

File the homestead exemption the first year you own — it lowers taxable value and caps annual increases at 10% on your primary residence. Protest the appraisal when the district's number is out of line; it's an ordinary process here. Then budget the real bill, including any MUD or PID district assessments, rather than the county's headline rate.

Does no state income tax change our retirement strategy?

Yes, favorably. Roth conversions, equity sales, and large distributions cost only the federal tax while you're a Texas resident, so this is a good place to accelerate conversions before required distributions begin. It matters even more if you might retire to a state with an income tax — converting here and withdrawing there is a real advantage.

Do we have to live in South Congress to work with Aequitas?

No. Aequitas is fee-only and virtual-first — we work with LGBTQ+ households in South Congress the same way we work with clients across Austin and the rest of the US. This page is written for the South Congress demographic, not as a residency requirement.

Is there a minimum account size?

No asset minimum. Engagements are priced based on planning complexity, not portfolio size, so we can work with LGBTQ+ high earners still building wealth — not just clients who already have it.

What happens on the intro call?

Twenty minutes, video or phone. We ask what you're actually trying to figure out, share how Aequitas would approach it, and decide together whether an engagement makes sense. No pressure, no product pitch.

LGBTQ+ couple in South Congress, Austin reviewing their financial plan

Austin · South Congress

LGBTQ+ financial planning for South Congress

No state income tax, high property tax, and a real Texas legal landscape for queer families. The plan has to speak all three languages.

Schedule a free intro call 20 minutes · video or phone · no product pitch

Quick answer

Is there a financial advisor for LGBTQ+ households in South Congress?

Yes. Aequitas Financial is a fee-only fiduciary practice serving LGBTQ+ professionals, couples, and families in South Congress and across Austin. Meetings are virtual, there is no asset minimum or commission, and plans are built around TX tax, titling, and chosen-family protections.

Source: CFP Board — Code of Ethics & Standards of Conduct

Who this is for

Built for South Congress LGBTQ+ households

South Congress (SoCo) has one of Austin's most visible LGBTQ+ communities — creative freelancers, tech workers, and long-partnered homeowners in bungalows.

Your effective property tax runs 2.0–2.3% and no one has run the appeal cadence or homestead-cap math for you.
You have RSUs from a big-tech employer and no state income tax to worry about — but the concentration risk is real.
Second-parent adoption is functional bedrock in Texas and it hasn't happened yet.
Your estate documents were written elsewhere and don't reflect Texas rules.

On the ground

South Congress: no income tax, very real property tax

South Congress households tend to be tech, design, hospitality ownership, and music-adjacent professionals. Texas has no state income tax, which is the headline — but the offset is a property tax burden among the highest in the country, often landing north of 2% of assessed value once city, county, school district, and special districts stack up. On an Austin-priced home, that's a five-figure annual expense that behaves like a tax on an asset rather than on income.

Two things make it manageable. The homestead exemption reduces taxable value and caps annual assessment increases at 10% for your primary residence — it must be filed, and we see people who never did. And appraisal protests are routine here, not adversarial. On the flip side, no state income tax makes Roth conversions and equity events cheaper than they'd be in California, which is a genuine planning advantage worth using while you live here.

Insurance deserves equal attention. Texas homeowners premiums have risen sharply, wind and hail deductibles are often a percentage of the dwelling value rather than a flat amount, and flood coverage is separate. We read the declarations page rather than the premium.

How we help South Congress households

Homestead + Travis County property-tax cap

Homestead exemption filed, 10% assessed-value cap tracked, and appeal cadence set — a boring recurring win that compounds meaningfully over the years you own here.

RSU + ESPP sequencing across two careers

Vest calendars, concentration risk, ESPP hold-vs-sell, and the tax bill hiding in your next refresh — coordinated with the rest of the plan, not treated as a separate problem.

Second-parent adoption follow-through

Even with marriage, presumption laws don't travel reliably across state lines. We help you sequence and budget the second-parent adoption that makes parentage bulletproof in every state.

Next step

Go deeper, or just talk to us

Skim the broader context if you want more before reaching out — or book the call and we'll cover it live.

LGBTQ+ financial advisor in Austin

The city-wide overview: how Aequitas works with Austin LGBTQ+ households across cash flow, tax, investing, and estate.

LGBTQ+ tax & cost-of-living guide: Austin

State income tax, property tax, estate tax, and LGBTQ+ planning overlays specific to Austin.

Schedule Your Intro Call

FAQ

South Congress planning FAQs

This page is part of our wider guide to LGBTQ+ financial planning — how fee-only, fiduciary planning works for queer households, and which topic to start with.

Ready to talk through your plan?

On a free intro call we'll walk through where you are, what you're trying to figure out, and whether an engagement makes sense — no pressure.

Schedule Your Intro Call