Before anything is signed
Hiring an Agent in West University: The Price, the Listing Agreement, and the Public Record
Updated September 2026
What should I ask a West University agent about the price and the listing agreement before anything is signed?
The written standard on that conversation is Standard of Practice 1-3 of the trade association's code of ethics, effective 1 January 2026: a member of that association, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value, and it binds that association's members rather than every licence holder in Texas.
Paige Martin, Houston Properties Team, West University
Source: National Association of REALTORS, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, effective 1 January 2026, January 2026.
How was the price on your house arrived at?
Ask which closed sales produced the number, and ask what the person who produced it is held to. On the second half of that, the written standard is Standard of Practice 1-3 of the trade association's code of ethics, effective 1 January 2026, under which a member of that association, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value. The standard binds a member of that association rather than every licence holder in Texas.
Standard of Practice 11-1 of the same code sets out what a member preparing an opinion of real property value or price must do: be knowledgeable about the type of property being valued, have access to the information and resources necessary to formulate an accurate opinion, and be familiar with the area where the subject property is located. The standard attaches a condition to all three, and they apply unless lack of any of them is disclosed to the party requesting the opinion in advance.
The list of report contents in the same standard has a narrower scope. It applies where an opinion of value or price is prepared other than in pursuit of a listing or to assist a potential purchaser in formulating a purchase offer, and it yields where the party requesting the opinion requires a specific type of report or different data set. An opinion given at a listing appointment is the case those contents are not required for, so what a seller can ask for is the closed sales the number rests on and the adjustment made to each one.
The same code carries a competence rule with two escapes written into it. A member shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent on such types of property or service, or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client. Anyone engaged in that way is identified to the client, and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth.
Standard of Practice 12-4 covers what a member may say about a number once it is agreed. Members must not offer for sale or lease or advertise property without authority, and when acting as listing brokers or as subagents they shall not quote a price different from that agreed upon with the seller or landlord.
The state licensing statute carries the ground closest to this question. Section 1101.652(a)(6) lets the commission suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action where the licence holder fails to consider market conditions for the specific geographic area in which that licence holder is providing a service. That subdivision sits under the wider Subsection (a) opening rather than under the Subsection (b) lead-in, which reaches a licence holder only while engaged in real estate brokerage, and it is a ground for discipline rather than a remedy.
Then put the practical question: which closed sales, in which part of this city, and adjusted how for age, lot size and condition. The figures this site publishes for West University as a whole, and what each one measures, sit on West University Housing Market Update: Prices, Pace and Supply in 2026.
Which kind of listing agreement is in front of you?
Ask the agent to name the type, then ask what it reserves to you. The multiple listing service's rules, read September 2026, name four: exclusive right to sell, exclusive agency, open and net. The service may not accept net listings, because the rules say they are deemed unethical and, in most states, illegal.
The rules describe the exclusive right to sell or lease listing as the form where the seller or lessor provides exclusive authorization to the listing broker to cooperate with other brokers. The exclusive agency listing also authorizes the listing broker, as exclusive agent, to cooperate with other brokers in the sale of the property, and it reserves to the seller the general right to sell or lease the property on an unlimited or restrictive basis. That reservation is the difference to have named before signing.
Three signature rules sit behind whichever type is chosen. A Participant providing listings to the MLS shall have a valid written listing agreement with all necessary signatures in their possession, and by entering a listing represents holding such an agreement and the represented type. Any listing to be entered is subject to the MLS rules upon signature of the seller and the listing Participant. And the Active status calls for a valid listing agreement signed by the seller before a listing is entered as Active.
A buyer sitting at the same table meets two rules from the code of ethics. Standard of Practice 16-9 gives a member an affirmative obligation, prior to entering into a representation agreement, to make reasonable efforts to determine whether the prospect is subject to a current, valid exclusive agreement to provide the same type of real estate service. Standard of Practice 16-4 says members shall not solicit a listing which is currently listed exclusively with another broker, with its exception written into it: where the listing broker, when asked, refuses to disclose the expiration date and nature of the listing, the member may contact the owner to secure that information, discuss the terms of a future listing, or take a listing to become effective upon expiration of the existing exclusive listing.
On the statute side, Section 1101.652(b)(34) makes failing to enter into a written agreement with a prospective buyer as required by Section 1101.563 a ground for discipline against a licence holder while engaged in real estate brokerage.
What happens to the listing if the house does not sell?
The statuses a listing can carry when it comes off the market, and what the service's rules set and do not set about a day count, are worked through on this site's page titled Why a West University House Did Not Sell, and What Changes on the Relist. The rulebook's status list names withdrawn, terminated and expired listings among the states a listing can end up in, and that page reads each one in the service's own words.
What belongs in the hiring conversation is the term. Rule 1.11 says listings entered into the MLS shall bear a definite and final termination date as negotiated between the Participant and the seller or lessor, so the length of an agreement is a negotiated term rather than a standard one.
Rule 1.6 keeps some listings out altogether. Listings containing contingencies that render them unenforceable until the occurrence of a subsequent event are not accepted by the MLS, and the rules give two examples: a listing contingent on the owner purchasing another property, and one contingent on the owner obtaining new employment.
Rule 1.9 puts the service outside the question of what a Participant charges. The code of ethics then sets one limit on how a member may describe their own services. Standard of Practice 12-1 says members must not represent that their brokerage services to a client or customer are free or available at no cost to their clients, unless the member will receive no financial compensation from any source for those services.
The statute covers the writing behind a claim for payment. Under Section 1101.806(c), a person may not maintain an action in this state to recover a commission for the sale or purchase of real estate unless the promise or agreement on which the action is based, or a memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the party against whom the action is brought, or by a person that party authorized to sign the document.
MLS shall not fix, control, recommend, suggest, or maintain commission rates or fees for services to be rendered by Participants.
What should you ask before the house is kept off the open market?
Three separate choices sit in the service's rules, read September 2026, and each one waives something different, so keep them apart while the agent describes them.
An office exclusive is where the seller has directed the listing broker not to publicly market the property and not to disseminate it through the MLS to other MLS Participants and Subscribers. Such a listing is still filed with the MLS, subject to its local filing rules, and not disseminated.
Delayed marketing is where the seller has directed the listing broker to delay the public marketing of the property through IDX and syndication. That listing is filed with the MLS and disseminated to other MLS Participants and Subscribers, and the listing broker is not precluded from marketing it in a manner consistent with the seller's choice.
Private per Seller is a separate status, used when a seller requests privacy and limited exposure by the MLS with minimal property information displayed, and such a listing is not displayed on publicly accessible consumer websites.
For the first two, the filing must be pursuant to HAR Form 300, which the rules title Seller Options for Limited Marketing, and the seller signs it. The rules set out three things that form includes: disclosure about the professional relationship between the Participant and the seller, acknowledgement that the seller understands the MLS benefits they are waiving or delaying, and confirmation of the seller's decision about how the listing will be marketed and disseminated.
Clear Cooperation sits beside those choices. Under Rule 1.01, within one business day of marketing a property to the public, the listing broker must submit the listing to the MLS for cooperation with other MLS participants, and the rules say public marketing includes, but is not limited to, flyers displayed in windows, yard signs, digital marketing on public facing websites, brokerage website displays, email blasts, multi-brokerage listing sharing networks and applications available to the general public. If an exempt listing is publicly marketed, it must be submitted to the MLS for dissemination to all participants within one business day.
Rule 1.7 decides what the record then shows about price, because the full gross listing price stated in the listing contract is included in the information published in the MLS compilation of current listings. The three questions for the agent are what is being waived, what is being signed, and what the record will show.
What about this address should an agent have read already?
Taxes come first. The Harris County Tax Office bills and collects the city's property taxes, and a West University Place statement also carries the Houston Independent School District, Harris County, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Port of Houston Authority, the Harris County Hospital District, the Harris County Department of Education and the Houston Community College District. The deadline for paying is January 31, taxes that remain unpaid on February 1 are considered delinquent with penalty and interest added, and the city does not offer a homestead exemption to property owners other than those over 65 or disabled. The rate, the bill and the debt behind them sit on West University Property Taxes: The 2026 Rate, the Bill, and the Debt Behind It.
Enlarging the house runs through Article 12 of the city's zoning ordinance, which decides what an older house keeps when space is added. Section 12-101 puts the burden on the person desiring prior nonconforming status to prove, for each non-conforming item, that the status was acquired and has not been lost. Section 12-103(f) then takes garage status away on either of two limbs: an existing garage is removed, destroyed or converted to a non-garage use, or space is added to the principal building so that its gross floor area is increased to 200 percent or more of its gross floor area on the 1987 effective date. The rest of the article sits on West University Place Zoning: What It Means When You Want to Add On.
Signatures on a deed are a third reading. Section 5.001 of the Family Code keeps a homestead sale behind two signatures, and the exception clause at the end of it is part of the rule rather than a footnote to it.
The routes, the timing and what a court adds are on this site's page about a sale that needs two signatures.
Whether the homestead is the separate property of either spouse or community property, neither spouse may sell, convey, or encumber the homestead without the joinder of the other spouse except as provided in this chapter or by other rules of law.
What can you check about an agent without asking anyone?
Two things can be checked before any conversation. The commission publishes a licence lookup, which asks for a name or licence number together with a licence type, and Broker or Sales Agent is one of the types it lists, alongside inspector, easement and right of way agent, real estate appraiser, appraisal management company and education provider.
The commission also publishes a searchable record of its own disciplinary actions, a form headed Search Disciplinary Actions, with fields for a name or licence number, a licence type, a case number, a from and to date range, and a list of several hundred rule citations.
Both are applications rather than documents, and no name was searched in either, so no licence number, case number, date or outcome comes from them. Run each one yourself with the name and the licence number an agent gives you.
The commission publishes a consumer protection notice as a numbered form too, carrying form id CN 1-5 and an effective date of 09/01/2023.
Beside those two tools, the statute lists the grounds. Under Section 1101.652(b), the commission may suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action where a licence holder, while engaged in real estate brokerage, acts negligently or incompetently, engages in conduct that is dishonest or in bad faith or that demonstrates untrustworthiness, or makes a false promise that is likely to influence a person to enter into an agreement when the licence holder is unable or does not intend to keep the promise. Subdivision (28) of the same subsection covers failing or refusing to provide, on request, a copy of a document relating to a real estate transaction to a person who signed the document.
Every one of those is a ground on which the commission may act against a licence. None of them voids a contract, and none of them gives an owner money.
Where does a complaint go, and what can it do?
The commission gives you four years from the date of the alleged incident in which to file, and it cannot investigate an incident that occurred four or more years ago. A complaint must be in writing, and it cannot be filed by phone. Anyone filing must provide a name and contact information, because an anonymous complaint cannot be accepted. Anyone can file a complaint against a licence holder, even other licence holders.
The commission does not regulate everyone who may be involved in a real estate transaction, and its own list of complaints it cannot handle names real estate developers, home builders, appraisers, mortgage brokers and loan officers, and title insurance companies among others, each pointed to a different body or to none. It also has no jurisdiction to take action against a licence holder for rude, unprofessional, disparaging or offensive comments on social media unless the comment or action involves discrimination in a real estate transaction.
Once a case is assigned to a staff attorney, three outcomes are described. The attorney may find no violation, or insufficient evidence that a violation occurred, and issue a letter closing the complaint. The attorney may issue an advisory letter, which becomes part of the licence holder's record and will be considered if further complaints are filed. Or the attorney may determine that a violation has occurred and recommend formal discipline, which includes monetary fines, licence suspension or licence revocation.
What can this page not tell you?
It cannot tell you what any particular agent's licence record or disciplinary history shows: both commission tools are applications rather than documents, and they answer the person who runs them.
It cannot tell you what the listing agreement in front of you says about its term, an extension or a protection period, since that is a private contract and a lawyer reads it.
It cannot tell you what this house is worth, since nothing published here is a valuation.
It cannot tell you how a day count behaves across a withdrawal, an expiry and a relist, since the rulebook sets no rule on it.
It cannot tell you whether any particular complaint or claim would succeed, since that is a question for a private attorney, and the commission's own grounds are grounds for discipline rather than remedies.
An owner or buyer in West University who wants these questions answered for their own address can put them to Paige Martin of Real Broker, LLC.
Questions & answers
West University questions, answered
Which kind of listing agreement will I be signing?
Ask the agent to name it. The multiple listing service's rules, read September 2026, list four types of listing agreement: exclusive right to sell, exclusive agency, open and net. The rules say the service may not accept net listings, which are deemed unethical and, in most states, illegal. An exclusive agency listing keeps a general right of sale with the seller; an exclusive right to sell does not.
The rules describe the exclusive right to sell or lease as the form in which the seller gives the listing broker exclusive authorization to cooperate with other brokers. The exclusive agency form adds a right the seller keeps, which is the point to have named out loud before anything is signed. Each of those rules binds a Participant, a broker who is a member of that service, rather than binding an owner. What your own agreement says about its term, an extension or a protection period is in that document, and a lawyer reads it for you. What else to weigh before you pick the person who will hold that agreement is in how to choose a West University listing agent.
Does an agent need my signature before the listing goes into the MLS?
Yes, under the service's own rules, read September 2026. A Participant providing listings to the MLS shall have a valid written listing agreement with all necessary signatures in their possession, and by entering a listing the Participant represents holding such an agreement and the represented type. Any listing to be entered is subject to those rules upon the signature of the seller and the listing Participant.
The Active status carries the same requirement in its own terms: agents must have a valid listing agreement signed by the seller before entering a listing as Active. The service also reserves the right to request a copy of the seller's written agreement required under those rules. The duty sits with the broker who is a member of that service rather than with an owner, so none of it gives you a right of your own. What it gives you is a question to put at the table: which document is being signed today, and what the record will show once the listing is entered. Section 5.001 of the Family Code can put a second signature on a homestead sale, and this site has a page about a sale that needs two signatures.
Can my house be marketed without going into the MLS?
The service's rules, read September 2026, give a seller three separate choices. An office exclusive is where the seller has directed the listing broker not to publicly market the property and not to disseminate it through the MLS, and that listing is still filed with the service, subject to its local filing rules, and not disseminated to other Participants and Subscribers.
Delayed marketing is where the seller has directed the broker to delay public marketing through IDX and syndication. That listing is filed with the service and disseminated to other Participants and Subscribers, and the broker is not precluded from marketing it in a manner consistent with the seller's choice. A third status, Private per Seller, is used when a seller requests privacy and limited exposure with minimal property information displayed, and such a listing is not displayed on publicly accessible consumer websites. For the first two, the filing must be pursuant to HAR Form 300, which the rules title Seller Options for Limited Marketing, signed by the seller. Under the same rules, an exempt listing that is publicly marketed must be submitted to the service for dissemination to all participants within one business day. The agent side of that decision is covered in how to choose a West University off-market agent.
Is the price I agree the only price published with the listing?
Rule 1.7 of the service's rules, read September 2026, says the full gross listing price stated in the listing contract will be included in the information published in the MLS compilation of current listings. The figure in the contract is the figure the compilation carries. Ask the agent to point to where that number sits in the document before anything is signed.
Those rules bind a Participant rather than an owner, so the obligation to publish the contract figure runs to the broker who is a member of that service. Two other rules sit near this one. The rules call for a termination date that the Participant and the seller negotiate, stated in the listing as a definite and final date. And a listing containing a contingency that renders it unenforceable until a later event occurs is not accepted, with the rules giving two examples: a listing contingent on the owner purchasing another property, and one contingent on the owner obtaining new employment.
Is an agent allowed to quote a price other than the one we agreed?
The trade association's code of ethics, effective 1 January 2026, answers that in Standard of Practice 12-4: members must not offer for sale or lease or advertise property without authority, and when acting as listing brokers or as subagents they shall not quote a price different from that agreed upon with the seller. That standard binds a member of that association.
The state licensing statute reaches similar ground from another direction, and its condition travels with it. Section 1101.652(b) lists grounds on which the commission may suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action against a licence holder while engaged in real estate brokerage. Subdivision (19) covers offering to sell or lease real property without the knowledge and consent of the owner or the owner's authorized agent, and subdivision (20) covers offering to sell or lease on terms other than those the owner or that agent authorized. Each of those is a ground for discipline. None of them voids a contract, and none of them gives an owner money.
Is an agent required to consider conditions in my part of the city?
Section 1101.652(a)(6) of the state licensing statute makes failing to consider market conditions for the specific geographic area in which the licence holder is providing a service a ground on which the commission may suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action. That subdivision sits under the wider Subsection (a) opening rather than under the brokerage-only lead-in that governs Subsection (b).
The trade association's code, effective 1 January 2026, sets a related requirement for its own members. Standard of Practice 11-1 says that when members prepare opinions of real property value or price they must be knowledgeable about the type of property being valued, have access to the information and resources necessary to formulate an accurate opinion, and be familiar with the area where the subject property is located, unless lack of any of these is disclosed to the party requesting the opinion in advance. That standard binds a member of that association rather than every licence holder in Texas, and the subdivision in the statute is a ground for discipline rather than a remedy an owner can collect. What this site publishes about conditions across the city sits on the West University market update.
Am I entitled to a copy of everything I sign?
Ask for one at the table. Section 1101.652(b)(28) of the state licensing statute makes failing or refusing to provide, on request, a copy of a document relating to a real estate transaction to a person who signed the document a ground for discipline, and, like everything under Subsection (b), it reaches a licence holder while engaged in real estate brokerage.
The service's own rules point the same way from the broker's side. The MLS has the right to request a copy of the seller's written agreement required under those rules, and a Participant entering a listing represents holding the signed agreement in their possession. A ground under Section 1101.652 is a basis on which the commission may suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action. It is not a way to undo a signature, and what any particular document obliges you to do is a question for a lawyer reading it.
How do I check that a Texas agent's licence is current?
The commission publishes a licence lookup of its own. The search takes a name or licence number and a licence type, with Broker or Sales Agent among the types it offers, alongside inspector, easement and right of way agent, real estate appraiser, appraisal management company and education provider. It is an application rather than a document, and no licence record was retrieved from it for anyone named here.
Run it yourself with the name and the licence number an agent gives you, and compare what comes back with what you were told at the table. The commission also publishes a consumer protection notice as a numbered form. The form is the Consumer Protection Notice, Form ID CN 1-5, effective 09/01/2023. The form's name, its id and its date are what that page carries.
Where would I see whether an agent has been disciplined?
The commission publishes a searchable record of its own disciplinary actions. Its search form takes a name or licence number, a licence type, a case number, a date range and a list of rule citations. Like the licence lookup, it is an application rather than a document, and no name was searched in it, so no case number, date or outcome comes from it.
What the statute behind those records sets out is grounds. Section 1101.652(b) lets the commission suspend or revoke a licence or take other disciplinary action where a licence holder, while engaged in real estate brokerage, acts negligently or incompetently, engages in conduct that is dishonest or in bad faith or that demonstrates untrustworthiness, or makes a false promise that is likely to influence a person to enter into an agreement when the licence holder is unable or does not intend to keep the promise. Read those as grounds for discipline rather than remedies. None of them voids a contract, and none of them pays an owner.
What can a complaint to the commission actually do?
You have four years after the date of the alleged incident to file with the commission, and it cannot investigate an incident that occurred four or more years ago. A complaint must be in writing, and it cannot be filed by phone. Anyone filing must provide a name and contact information, because an anonymous complaint cannot be accepted. Anyone can file, including another licence holder.
Where a case is assigned to a staff attorney, the commission describes three endings. A letter closing the complaint follows a finding of no violation or of insufficient evidence that one occurred. An advisory letter warns the licence holder, becomes part of that licence holder's record and is considered if further complaints are filed. A recommendation of formal discipline follows a determination that a violation occurred, and formal discipline includes monetary fines, licence suspension or licence revocation. The commission does not regulate everyone who may be involved in a transaction, and its own list of complaints it cannot handle names home builders, real estate developers, appraisers, mortgage brokers and loan officers, and title insurance companies among others. It has no jurisdiction to act on rude, unprofessional, disparaging or offensive comments on social media unless the comment or action involves discrimination in a real estate transaction.