Selling your house yourself in Texas: what the law requires and where it gets hard

Yes, and here is what you take on

Yes. A Texas homeowner can sell their own house without hiring a real estate agent, and the standard contract forms are available to the public. What you take on is everything an agent would otherwise handle: setting the price, preparing and marketing the house, screening buyers, running showings, negotiating the contract and repairs, delivering the required disclosures, and keeping the deal on schedule through closing. Owners who do it well are organized, available and unemotional about their own house, and they know what comparable homes have actually closed for.

I am Andy Scott with Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, and I am obviously not a neutral party on this question. But I would rather you make the decision with accurate information than avoid it. After fifteen years in Preston Hollow, the Park Cities and Lakewood, I have a clear view of where a sale needs professional help and where a capable owner can manage alone, and the honest answer depends on the house, the market and the person.

The paperwork Texas expects from a seller

The Texas Real Estate Commission publishes the contracts most residential sales use, including the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), and its guidance notes that the forms are available for public use. The same guidance adds a warning worth taking seriously: a person using a TREC form assumes all risks associated with its use. The forms are long, the blanks matter, and an error in a date or a box can change who carries a risk.

Disclosure is the other piece you cannot skip. TREC's Seller's Disclosure Notice is required by sellers of previously occupied single family residences and contains the information Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code requires. It asks detailed questions about the condition of the house, from the roof and foundation to past flooding, repairs and known defects. Fill it out carefully and honestly. An incomplete disclosure is one of the most common sources of disputes after a sale, and selling without an agent does not reduce your obligation.

For anything unusual, such as an estate sale, a property held in a trust, a boundary question or a buyer asking for seller financing, talk to a Texas real estate attorney before you sign. The cost of an hour's review is small next to the cost of a contract that does not say what you meant.

• A current TREC resale contract and any addenda the sale requires
• The Seller's Disclosure Notice, completed before the buyer is bound
• The federal lead-based paint disclosure for homes built before 1978
• Your survey, any owners association documents and records of major repairs
• A title company to hold earnest money and conduct the closing

Older houses and the lead-paint rule

Many homes in close-in Dallas neighborhoods were built before 1978, which brings in a federal rule. The EPA explains that sellers of pre-1978 housing must give buyers the pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, disclose any known lead-based paint and hazards, provide available records and reports, include a Lead Warning Statement with the contract, and give buyers a 10-day opportunity to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment unless they agree otherwise in writing. Sellers must also keep signed copies of the disclosures for three years.

None of this is difficult, but it is easy to forget when you are handling the sale yourself. TREC publishes an addendum for this disclosure, and it belongs in the contract packet from the start.

Setting the price without a second opinion

Price is where most owner sales succeed or fail. Online estimates are least reliable in neighborhoods where lots, school zones and renovation levels vary from house to house, and that describes most of the Park Cities, Preston Hollow and Lakewood. Asking prices on nearby listings tell you what other sellers hope for; only closed sales tell you what buyers paid.

If you go it alone, consider paying for an independent appraisal before you list. It gives you an evidence-based number and something to show buyers who question your price. I wrote about how I price a house before it goes on the market, and the same discipline applies whether or not an agent is involved: adjust each comparable for lot, size, condition and age, and revisit the price if the market tells you something different in the first few weeks.

Timing matters as much as the number. In Dallas, as in most markets, a listing gets its strongest attention in the first days and weeks. If the first price is too high, buyers and their agents notice, and a later reduction rarely recovers that early interest. Set the price you can defend from the start rather than testing the market with a hopeful one.

Where most owner sales stall

In my experience the trouble rarely comes from the paperwork. It comes from exposure and negotiation. Most buyers in these neighborhoods search through agents, and the multiple listing service that agents rely on is a members-only system, so an owner without a broker usually needs to pay a limited-service broker to appear there. Without that exposure, the pool of buyers who even know the house is for sale can be small.

Showings are the next hurdle. You need to be available, let strangers into your home, and decide quickly who is a qualified buyer and who is simply curious. Ask for a lender's pre-approval letter or proof of funds before you schedule private showings, and never show the house alone if you can avoid it.

If you are weighing whether to try it yourself, I am happy to give you an honest read on your house and your street, including the case for selling on your own. Knowing your likely price and timeline helps either way.

When the buyer brings an agent

Even when you sell without an agent, many buyers will have one. Buyers who work with an agent sign a written agreement that sets their agent's compensation, and that agreement may ask the seller to contribute. Whether you agree is your decision and part of the negotiation, but decide your position before the first offer arrives, because it affects your net as much as the price.

The buyer's agent represents the buyer, not you. They will write the offer, choose the deadlines, interpret the inspection report and push for repairs or a credit. You will be negotiating against someone who does this every week. That is not a reason to give up, but it is a reason to understand every paragraph of the contract, especially the option period, the financing addendum and the closing date.

Inspection negotiations are where emotions run highest. The buyer will usually inspect during the option period and then ask for repairs or a credit. Get your own contractor's estimate for anything significant so you are negotiating on numbers rather than on the buyer's worst-case quote.

From signed contract to closing day

Once a contract is signed, the title company becomes your most important partner. It receives the earnest money and option fee, orders the title commitment, clears your existing loan, coordinates with the buyer's lender and prepares the closing statement. If you want to understand that month in detail, read what the title company does after you go under contract.

Your job is to meet every deadline in the contract: providing documents, allowing access for the inspector and appraiser, completing agreed repairs with receipts, and being ready to move out on schedule. Keep a calendar of every date in the contract and confirm each one in writing. Most deals that fail in the final weeks fail because a deadline slipped or a financing problem surfaced late.

• Deliver earnest money and option fee receipts to the title company promptly
• Provide access for inspections, appraisal and any re-inspection
• Complete agreed repairs with licensed trades and keep the invoices
• Review the closing statement line by line before you sign
• Leave the house in the condition the contract requires

A middle path: paying for part of the work

Selling on your own is not all or nothing. Some owners pay a limited-service broker to place the house in the multiple listing service and handle the rest themselves. Others hire a real estate attorney to draft or review the contract. Some find the buyer themselves, perhaps a neighbor or a friend of a friend, and then pay an agent or attorney to manage the paperwork from contract to closing.

Each option reduces some cost while keeping some risk. The question to ask is which parts of the job you are genuinely good at and have time for, and which ones you would be learning on your own house.

Deciding which route actually nets more

The only fair comparison is net to net. Estimate what you would walk away with selling on your own, including a realistic price, any buyer-agent compensation you agree to, marketing and listing costs, legal review, and the extra weeks on the market if exposure is limited. Then compare it with an agent-assisted sale at the price a well-marketed house would likely bring. I lay out every cost on the seller's side in what it costs to sell a house beyond the commission.

If you decide to hire help after all, interview carefully; my list of questions to ask before hiring an agent is a good place to start. If you decide to sell on your own, do it with complete disclosures, a defensible price and a good title company. Either way, the decision should rest on your numbers, not on a rule of thumb.

Questions people ask me