Buying in Houston
Texas doesn't publish what homes sell for.
Texas is one of roughly a dozen non-disclosure states. Closing prices never reach public record, which means every automated estimate you have looked at was working backwards from asking prices and guessing at the rest.
Costs nothing to set up. No obligation — not today, not tomorrow, not ever
The price on the sign is public. The price on the closing statement is not.
The number that decides your offer is the one nobody shows you
In a disclosure state, sold prices are filed with the county and anyone can read them. Texas does not work that way. County records show that a sale happened and who now owns the property. They do not show what was paid.
So when a portal tells you a home is worth $525,000, it is extrapolating from list prices, square footage and public tax assessments. None of those is the sale price, and the assessed value in particular can sit far below or above what a buyer would actually pay.
- Asking prices are aspirational. Sellers test the market. The first number is frequently not the last one.
- Assessed values lag. Appraisal districts revalue on their own schedule and are capped for homesteads.
- Concessions are invisible. A $500,000 sale with $15,000 toward closing costs is really a $485,000 sale.
Three things a free MLS account shows you
None of this is secret. It sits inside the Houston MLS, and a free HAR account set up through an agent opens it.
What it actually sold for
Not the list price, not an algorithm's estimate. The closing number, for every comparable home near the one you are considering.
The full listing history
Every price cut, every relisting, every time it went under contract and came back. A house on its third listing is telling you something specific.
Coming Soon listings
Properties before they reach the open market. In a tight price band, seeing a home three days early is the whole difference.
Properties searchable across Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston and Liberty counties.
Roughly the number of US states where sale prices stay private. Texas is one of them.
What the account costs to set up, and what it costs to keep.
Start here
Search every listing in the Houston MLS
Live data, updated as status changes happen, without the sold and withdrawn listings the national portals keep serving up months after the fact.
When something looks right, we pull the tax rate, MUD, HOA dues and flood history before you see it in person, so you are comparing what each house costs to own rather than what it is listed at.
Every listing you can see, anyone can see. Knowing what they actually closed at is a different thing entirely.
Get access, then decide
A free HAR account set up through The Realty Team opens sold prices, full property history and Coming Soon listings. Nobody calls you unless you ask them to.
Everything else about buying here
The Realty Team — brokered by Walzel Properties, LLC. MLS data via the Houston Association of REALTORS®. Tax, school and flood information is subject to change and should be independently verified. See our Information About Brokerage Services notice.