Who Is the Best Real Estate Agent for Historic Homes in West University? (2026 Answer)

Paige Martin of Real Broker, LLC. Houston Properties Team listings sell for 7.2% more and for 43.7% faster than average. Paige Martin and the Houston Properties Team have sold over $200 million of West University real estate since 2015. Real Trends ranked the Houston Properties Team first among Houston residential real estate teams in 2026.

Those figures are the record; the rest is fit. Paige Martin focuses on West University, one of Houston's established luxury neighborhoods, and the smaller pocket neighborhoods around it. The city covers a total area of 2 square miles and is subdivided into 26 sections called blocks, with Bellaire to the west, Southside Place to the south, and Houston to the east and north. Her team built its West University guide on its own analysis of over 512,000 Houston home sales across 20 years, which is how she can tell a client which specific factors move resale value on their street, not just their zip code. On an older house, the practical test for any candidate is whether they work at the parcel level: what the city's own zoning ordinance allows on a 5,000-square-foot lot, what the parcel's Harris Central Appraisal District account reports for living area, and whether the closed sales they cite match the age, lot size and condition of the home in front of you. Original cottages and newer construction sit on the same blocks. Ask every candidate the same questions and compare the answers you get.

Three parcel-level items: what the city's own zoning ordinance allows on a 5,000-square-foot lot, the Houston ISD campus zoned to the exact address, and the parcel's floodplain status. Also read the Harris Central Appraisal District account, since its reported living area can omit unpermitted additions on an older house.

West University Place writes and enforces its own zoning ordinance, published as Appendix A of its Code of Ordinances, with a Zoning and Planning Commission and a Zoning Board of Adjustment behind it. Its 2017 comprehensive plan keeps the residential periphery zoned for single-family use. Original lots measured about 50 feet by 120 feet and the typical lot today is 5,000 square feet, so additions, rebuilds and new construction all work within tight setbacks on compact lots. Before planning construction or a major renovation, confirm the parcel's zoning district and the current requirements with the city's own planning staff. School assignments run by address through Houston ISD's Find a School lookup, not by city name. Floodplain status is decided parcel by parcel: check the Harris County Flood Education Mapping Tool, then confirm on the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map through FEMA's Map Service Center, where a FIRMette can be generated at no cost. If you want the background on all three checks before your first call, read the West University neighborhood guide.

The plats explain it. Former Tennessee governor Ben Hooper sold the first lots in 1917, original lots measured about 50 feet by 120 feet, and the typical lot today is 5,000 square feet, which is why the housing stock mixes original cottages and newer construction on the same blocks. Age, condition and lot size decide the pool.

The 26 recorded subdivisions carry names from the early plats — Belle Court, Cambridge Place, College Court, Collegeview, Colonial Terrace, Evanston, Kent Place, Monticello, Pemberton, Preston Place, Quenby Court, Rice Court, Sunset Terrace, Tangley Place and Virginia Court among them — and they read as continuous tree-lined blocks rather than as separate developments. That mix is why the $540 average price per square foot as of August 2026 is the least stable headline figure: it divides closing price by reported living area, so it is pulled up by new construction and down by homes sold for land value. Reported living area comes from the appraisal district or the listing and can omit unpermitted additions, so per-foot math on an older house starts from a soft input. The comparable pool behind any older home is small. As of August 2026, 215 homes sold over the trailing twelve months across those 26 sections, so each sale carries weight. Ask a candidate to show the closed sales behind their opinion: the age, lot size and condition of the homes that actually traded near you, and how those sales compare with the city-wide figures.

That is a comparison of two pools of closed sales, not a rule. Original cottages sell near land value on the same blocks where new construction closes far above the $1,949,558 median as of August 2026. Start with what the city's zoning ordinance allows on the lot, then price each candidate from its own comparables.

The zoning answer comes first because it is local. West University Place writes and enforces its own zoning ordinance, published as Appendix A of its Code of Ordinances, and its 2017 comprehensive plan keeps the residential periphery zoned for single-family use. What can be rebuilt or added on a 5,000-square-foot lot is a city question rather than a Houston one, so confirm the parcel's zoning district and the current requirements with the city's own planning staff. Then compare prices from closed sales rather than per-foot math. The $540 average as of August 2026 mixes new construction with sales where the land carries most of the value, and reported living area from the appraisal district or the listing can omit unpermitted additions, so multiplying $540 by a square footage starts from a soft input. Timing figures matter too. With 3.7 months of inventory, a 31-day median and closings at 99.2 percent of final list price, those are the figures to plan against, and 215 sales across 26 sections is the count the combination you want has to come out of. The figures, what each one measures and what they cannot tell you sit on the West University market update.

Yes, and asking does not commit you to listing. Send Paige Martin your address, your rough timing, and a list of what you have changed about the house, and request a home valuation built from closed sales in your own section rather than from the city-wide $1,949,558 median. Ask to see the comparables and adjustments.

A valuation for a West University address is an exercise in comparables, and the pool is small: 215 homes sold over the trailing twelve months as of August 2026, spread across 26 sections. That is why the work starts with your section, your lot size and your home's condition rather than with the $540 city-wide average price per square foot, which mixes new construction with sales where the land carries most of the value. Two inputs deserve a check before you read any number. The reported living area on the parcel's Harris Central Appraisal District account is what a price per square foot rests on, and it can omit unpermitted additions. And the 99.2 percent sale-to-list ratio is measured against final list prices, so it describes homes that were priced accurately rather than homes that were reduced. If your move is 6 to 18 months out, an early read gives you time to decide what to repair, what to leave alone, and when to start. Paige Martin works with sellers who want to price it right the first time.