How to sell your home yourself in Houston

No. Texas imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax at any level, which saves Houston sellers hundreds or thousands of dollars that sellers in California, New York, or Illinois routinely lose. Your closing statement will still show small Harris County recording fees (the deed is $25 for the first page and $4 per additional page) and a deed preparation fee charged by the title company. Those are minor. The bigger line item to understand is the owner's title insurance policy: by Texas custom the seller pays for it, and the premium is set by the Texas Department of Insurance on a promulgated rate based on the sales price. After the rate cut effective March 1, 2026, a $332,000 sale runs about $1,926. Confirm the exact figure with your chosen title company before you sign anything.

No. Texas is a title-company state, not an attorney-close state. A licensed Texas title company acts as the escrow holder, clears title, prepares the closing disclosure, and disburses funds. You will never be in a room with an attorney unless you choose to hire one. What trips up sellers is confusing the title company's role with legal advice: the title officer works for both parties on the transaction and will not counsel you on whether to accept a contract term. If a buyer's repair demands feel aggressive or the contract addenda are confusing, a one-hour consultation with a Texas real estate attorney ($150 to $300) is money well spent.

The Seller's Disclosure Notice is TREC form No. 55-0, required under Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code for nearly all residential sales. You fill it out yourself; no inspector signs it. It covers known defects, flood history (including whether the property is in a FEMA flood zone or has ever flooded), windstorm coverage, underground and aboveground storage tanks, and more. The critical deadline: deliver it on or before the buyer signs the contract. If you deliver it after signing, the buyer has seven days to terminate and get their earnest money back, no questions asked. In flood-prone Houston neighborhoods, buyers read the flood section carefully, so answer it accurately and attach any FEMA elevation certificates you have. Misrepresentation on this form is the most common source of post-closing litigation in Texas.

The option period is a Texas-specific right the buyer purchases for a negotiated fee (commonly $100 to $500) paid directly to you, the seller. During that window, typically seven to ten calendar days on Houston deals, the buyer can terminate for any reason and get their earnest money back, keeping only the option fee. They use it to schedule a home inspection. You keep the option fee no matter what. The practical impact for you: if the inspection turns up foundation issues, HVAC problems, or roof damage, the buyer will either ask for repairs, a price reduction, or they will walk. Houston's clay soil means foundation inspections matter; budget for that conversation. Once the option period expires, the buyer is committed and can only exit under specific contract contingencies.

Texas property taxes are billed and paid in arrears, meaning you pay this year's taxes next January. At closing the title company prorates your share: if you close July 1, you owe roughly half a year's taxes credited to the buyer. The proration is calculated on the prior year's tax rate applied to the current year, then trued up in January when the bill arrives. Harris County property tax rates vary by school district but total rates commonly run 2.0 to 2.5 percent of the assessed value set by HCAD. On a $332,000 home that is roughly $6,640 to $8,300 per year, so your proration credit to the buyer can be a meaningful number. Look up your HCAD assessed value and your tax rate before you price the home so you know your real net.

Not directly. HAR.com is operated by the Houston Association of REALTORS and draws its listings from the Houston MLS (HAR MLS). Only licensed Texas brokers can submit listings to the MLS. As a for-sale-by-owner you have a few practical options. First, pay a flat-fee MLS broker, typically $200 to $500, to list the property for you; you handle all showings, negotiations, and paperwork while they hold the license, and the listing then flows to HAR.com, Zillow, and Realtor.com and reaches buyer's agents. Second, post directly and free in Zillow's For Sale By Owner section, which Zillow reviews within about 72 hours but which does not reach the MLS or buyer's agents searching HAR. A third option is Anyone.com, where you manage the sale yourself at no cost to you without relying on the MLS; it reaches buyers searching across multiple markets who may be relocating to Houston or purchasing remotely, giving you a channel outside the agent ecosystem. You set the price yourself; the platform makes no valuation. Many sellers combine MLS exposure with their own marketing to reach both agent-represented buyers and independent searchers.

No mandatory government inspection is required for a private residential resale in Houston or Harris County. Houston famously has no traditional zoning code, so there is no zoning sign-off to obtain, and there is no city-required pre-sale inspection. The buyer's lender may require certain repairs if the appraisal flags safety issues (a broken handrail, exposed wiring, inoperable windows) but that is a lender requirement, not a city one. Some neighborhoods governed by deed restrictions or HOAs have their own transfer requirements; check your HOA documents. The practical inspection that matters is the one the buyer orders privately during the option period, typically from a Texas-licensed inspector certified by TREC.

In Texas the buyer and seller agree on a title company, and it is negotiable in the contract. In Houston either party often names their preferred company and the other side usually accepts. Because Texas title premiums are state-regulated (the rate is the same everywhere), you are not shopping on price; you are shopping on speed and competence. Ask for a referral from someone who has closed recently, check the company's online reviews for turnaround time on commitments, and make sure they have experience with FSBO transactions where no buyer's agent is coordinating paperwork. Open escrow by delivering a signed contract and the buyer's earnest money check, typically 1 percent of the purchase price, within about three business days of acceptance.

It is a measured, slightly buyer-favoring market, not a bidding-war market. In April 2026 the Houston single-family median price was about $332,000, down roughly 1.6 percent year over year, and homes sat on the market about 60 days, up from 55 a year earlier. Inventory rose to 4.9 months (around six months is considered balanced) with 36,572 active single-family listings, up 6.5 percent. The encouraging side is that sales volume actually rose 4.4 percent year over year, so well-priced homes are still selling. The practical takeaway for an owner sale: price to recent sold comps and plan for roughly two months of marketing rather than expecting bidding wars.

They are two separate payments. The option fee, commonly $100 to $500, is paid directly to you, the seller, in exchange for the buyer's right to terminate for any reason during the option period (usually seven to ten days, used for inspections); you keep the option fee regardless of whether the sale closes. The earnest money, typically about 1 percent of the price (roughly $3,000 to $3,500 on a $332,000 home), is a good-faith deposit held by the title company and due there within about three business days of acceptance; if the buyer properly terminates during the option period, the earnest money is refunded to them while you still keep the option fee.