The statutes, forms and program terms below are stated as of October 30, 2026; we update this guide when one changes.

Three decisions come before the price

1. Which buyer you are selling to. Some buyers want the house. Others, usually builders, want the land under it and price the property as a lot.
2. How the price is set. Texas has no mandatory sales disclosure, so agents customarily price from the sold data reported to the multiple listing service (MLS), from appraisals and from the Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) value.
3. How the home goes to market. A full MLS listing, a Compass Private Exclusive, a Compass Coming Soon and a quiet sale each trade reach against privacy.

The areas also sit under different governments. River Oaks, Afton Oaks and Tanglewood are City of Houston neighborhoods, where recorded deed restrictions decide much of what can be built; West University Place and each of the six Memorial Villages are separate cities that issue their own permits.

Texas does not publish sale prices, so the price is built from several sources

The appraisal district puts it plainly: “Texas does not have mandatory sales disclosure; therefore, the district does not have access to all property transactions” (HCAD, 2026 Mass Appraisal Report, May 6, 2026). HCAD gathers the sales it can from questionnaires, field work, protest hearings, vendors, builders and agents. Tax Code section 22.27 keeps sales prices voluntarily disclosed to an appraisal office under a promise of confidentiality out of public view, and HCAD shares the sales behind a value only with an owner who files a timely protest.

Few sales compare in a small neighborhood

Few homes in a deed-restricted neighborhood or a Village sell in a season, and they rarely match. Lot size and frontage, a renovated house against an original one, or a corner lot against an interior one can matter more than square footage, so pricing rests on adjustment: the closest true comparables, adjusted for lot and condition, read alongside the listings buyers are weighing. Marnie recommends a comparative market analysis of recent similar sales, and a seller may also order an appraisal before listing.

The lender’s appraisal arrives after you accept an offer

TREC’s Third Party Financing Addendum (TREC No. 40-11, effective January 3, 2025) lets a financed buyer terminate and recover the earnest money if the lender decides the property does not satisfy its underwriting requirements, “including but not limited to appraisal”, by notice on or before the third day before closing (paragraph 2B). With thin comparables, a price can come apart there. For a loan that is not an FHA or VA loan, TREC’s Addendum Concerning Right to Terminate Due to Lender’s Appraisal (TREC No. 49-1) settles it in advance: the buyer can waive that right, waive it only if the appraisal reaches a stated figure, or keep an added right to terminate if the appraisal falls below one. Under either waiver, a loan cut because of the appraisal raises the buyer’s cash by the same amount.

Decide whether you are selling a house or a lot

If the land is worth most of what the property would sell for, a builder may pay more than a buyer who wants to live in the house. Builders usually price a property as land, from its usable width and depth, the building lines and lot rules that apply, its trees and drainage, and the cost to clear it.

HCAD’s cost approach adds a land value to the depreciated value of the improvements to reach its market value. For a homestead, though, Tax Code section 23.01(d) sets the market value “solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead,” even where living in the house is not the most valuable use of the land. So HCAD’s homestead figure can sit below what a builder would pay. The City of Houston’s Greater Uptown super neighborhood profile describes Tanglewood as an area where large older homes are being replaced with new ones.

When the answer is unclear, offer the property to both kinds of buyer. Our guide to selling a Houston home as a lot or teardown to a builder covers how builders work back to a land price.

Prepare the paperwork before you prepare the house

Several documents carry deadlines that start at signing, so pull them before listing.

The Seller’s Disclosure Notice under Property Code section 5.008

A seller of residential property comprising not more than one dwelling unit must give the buyer a written Seller’s Disclosure Notice, in the statutory form or a substantially similar one (Property Code section 5.008). TREC publishes it as the Seller’s Disclosure Notice, TREC No. 55-1, effective May 28, 2026. The seller completes it from what the seller knows on the date signed and marks an unknown item as unknown (section 5.008(d)).

The notice is due “on or before the effective date” of the contract. If the contract is signed first, the buyer “may terminate the contract for any reason within seven days after receiving the notice” (section 5.008(f)). Delivering it before the contract is signed closes that window. Items on the current notice that bear on these homes:

• Flood: whether the property is wholly or partly in a 100-year floodplain, a 500-year floodplain or a floodway, any flood damage claim with any insurer, and any FEMA or U.S. Small Business Administration flood assistance.
• Work without permits: “Room additions, structural modifications, or other alterations or repairs made without necessary permits or not in compliance with building codes in effect at that time.”
• Deed restrictions: “Any notices of violations of deed restrictions or governmental ordinances affecting the condition or use of the Property.”
• Subsidence: whether any part of the property is in a subsidence district. State law says the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District includes the territory within Harris County and Galveston County (Special District Local Laws Code section 8801.005), so a home in these neighborhoods sits inside one.

Lead-based paint, water rights and the survey

The TREC contract states that a lead-based paint disclosure “is required by Federal law for a residential dwelling constructed prior to 1978” (paragraph 7C). Under the EPA’s rule, the seller gives the buyer EPA’s lead hazard pamphlet, discloses what the seller knows, allows a 10-day inspection period unless the parties agree in writing on a different period or the buyer waives it, and keeps a signed copy for three years (40 CFR part 745, subpart F).

The 20-19 contract added paragraph 7I and TREC’s Seller’s Disclosure about Groundwater and Surface Water Rights (TREC No. 61-0, effective July 1, 2026). A seller skips it only if every statement in paragraph 7I(3) is true: no known water well, pond, lake or water tank, no state surface water permit or filing, no severed, sold or leased groundwater rights, and water only from a named city, utility district or water supplier.

If the parties check paragraph 6C(1), the seller furnishes an existing survey with a Residential Real Property Affidavit (T-47) or the unsworn T-47.1 Declaration, both from the Texas Department of Insurance and effective November 1, 2024, stating that since the survey there have been no new structures, pools or other permanent improvements, no moved boundary fences and no new easements. If the title company or lender rejects the survey or the affidavit, a new survey is ordered at the expense of the party the contract names.

Deed restrictions and permit history

In the City of Houston, deed restrictions are private agreements recorded in the county’s real property records, and copies come from the Harris County Clerk. The City may sue for an injunction to enforce restrictions on use, setbacks, lot size, the size and number of structures, orientation and certain fences (City of Houston Legal Department). Permits inside the City come from the Houston Permitting Center. West University Place requires a city permit before anyone may “erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, install, convert, or demolish any building or structure,” each of the six Memorial Villages issues its own building permits, and Bunker Hill Village requires a tree permit before any tree is cut down.

Inspections and repairs

A pre-listing inspection shows what the buyer’s inspector will find while there is time to repair, price or disclose it, and what it finds becomes part of what you know for the notice. Agreed repairs must be finished before closing, with any required permits, by licensed or commercially engaged trades (paragraph 7F). Neither party must pay for lender-required repairs unless they agree, and if those exceed 5 percent of the price the buyer may terminate (paragraph 7E).

Compass Concierge fronts preparation costs until closing

Compass Concierge advances the cost of home improvement services before the sale, with zero due until closing, according to Compass’s program page. Covered services include staging, painting, flooring, roofing repair, HVAC and seller-side inspections. The funds are repaid at the first of these: the home sells, you or Compass end the listing agreement, 12 months pass from the start date, or the lender suspends the loan. The loans are made by Notable Finance, LLC, subject to its credit approval; Compass states that it is not a lender, that fees or interest may apply depending on your state of residence, that program terms may vary by market, and that it offers no warranty of results. Marnie also owns staging inventory her sellers may use at no cost.

Choose how the home goes to market

Compass’s Three-Phased Marketing Strategy puts three of these in sequence, a Private Exclusive, then a Coming Soon, then the MLS, and the seller initials which phases to use. Its listing-agreement disclosure, revised March 24, 2026, asks the seller to acknowledge that a Private Exclusive or Coming Soon, or not advertising through the MLS, “could impact (i) the number of potential buyers who can learn about the property; (ii) the number of showings; (iii) the number of offers; or (iv) the final sale price for the property.” It also warns that marketing publicly off the MLS longer than the local MLS permits can lead the MLS to fine the agent or not display the listing, and that the seller can move to the MLS at any time. Our page on selling as a Compass Private Exclusive explains the first phase.

Marnie often uses her network to sell properties off the MLS, including lots for builders. Compass’s Make Me Sell tool goes quieter still: an owner who has not listed names an aspirational price, other Compass agents with buyers contact her, and the details stay confidential until the owner is ready.

The contract, the option period and the title company

TREC’s resale contract for one to four units is its most frequently used form, and the current version is TREC No. 20-19, effective July 1, 2026, replacing 20-18. License holders must use TREC’s forms, but TREC does not promulgate listing agreements, so your agreement with your broker is a separate document.

• Earnest money and option fee (paragraphs 5A and 5D): due to the escrow agent within 3 days after the effective date; without a timely option fee, the buyer has no unrestricted right to terminate.
• Option period (paragraph 5B): the buyer may terminate for any reason within the days written in, by 5:00 p.m. local time; the seller keeps the option fee and the earnest money is refunded.
• Title (paragraph 6): the commitment is due within 20 days after the title company receives the contract.
• Closing (paragraph 9): on or before the date written in, with a general warranty deed and tax certificates showing no delinquent taxes.
• Possession (paragraph 10): at closing and funding, or under a TREC temporary residential lease if you stay on.

Houston resales customarily close at a title company that also acts as the escrow agent. The days between steps are whatever the contract says, but the order is steady: paperwork and price, launch, accepted offer, option period and inspections, title, survey and any appraisal, then closing and funding.

Costs and property taxes at closing

Under paragraph 12A(1)(a) the seller pays the release of existing liens, tax certificates, preparation of the deed and one-half of the escrow fee; paragraph 12B states that brokerage compensation “is not set by law and is fully negotiable.” Our guide to seller closing costs in Houston covers every line.

Paragraph 13 prorates “taxes for the current year” through the closing date, may take into account “any change in exemptions that will affect the current year’s taxes,” and is adjusted when the year’s tax statements arrive. Because Tax Code section 26.10(a) does not prorate a general residence homestead exemption that ends during the year, the seller’s general homestead exemption stays on the house for the year of the sale (subsections (b) and (c) treat some over-65, disabled and veteran exemptions differently), and the buyer’s bill changes in the first full tax year in the buyer’s name, when the seller’s exemptions and the 10 percent cap no longer apply. See Houston property taxes, village by village and the Texas homestead exemption in Harris County.

Marnie Greenwood’s seller record in these neighborhoods

Her closed sales on Compass include 25 in the Memorial Villages (Bunker Hill Village 8, Hunters Creek Village 8, Piney Point Village 5, Hedwig Village 2, Spring Valley Village 2), 17 of them with a list price of $2 million or more; 16 in the Tanglewood area, 9 of them inside Tanglewood; 9 in River Oaks and Afton Oaks (River Oaks 7, Afton Oaks 2), each with a list price of $2 million or more; and 6 in West University Place. Of her closed sales on Compass, 162 were as the seller’s agent. She works with sellers in English and Spanish.

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