Questions to Ask Before You Hire an Agent at Montebello

Yes. A license holder who performs any act of real estate brokerage for a prospective buyer of residential real property must have a written agreement with that buyer in place before showing any residential real property, or, where none will be shown, before presenting an offer to purchase on that buyer's behalf. Section 1101.563 carries that rule, in force since 1 January 2026, and a license holder engaged in real estate brokerage who fails to enter into it gives the commission a ground for discipline under Section 1101.652(b)(34).

Texas keeps one narrow alternative, in Section 1101.562. A broker may show property without representing a party only where the broker has not agreed, orally or in writing, to represent them, is not otherwise acting as their agent at the time of the showing, gives no opinions or advice about the property or about real estate transactions in general, and performs no other act of brokerage. A broker showing property under that section may still confirm information about size, price and terms. An agreement entered into for the sole purpose of showing property under that section may not be exclusive and may not state a termination date more than fourteen days from the date it is entered into, and a separate agreement is required where further brokerage acts follow the showing. The national background predates the statute: the consumer guide published by the National Association of REALTORS says written buyer agreements became a nationwide requirement for many real estate professionals, as part of its proposed settlement of litigation related to broker commissions, effective 17 August 2024, and that same guide closes by saying practices vary by state and local law.

Yes, by the statute's own definition. Section 1101.563(a) defines residential real property as a single-family house, a duplex, triplex or quadraplex, or a unit in a multiunit residential structure in which title to an individual unit is transferred to the owner of the unit under a condominium or cooperative system. A home at Montebello is held that way, so a showing in this building sits inside the rule.

The practical effect is the same as it is for a house. Before a license holder shows you a home here, the agreement has to be in place, and it has to state the services, the termination date, whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive, whether the license holder represents you as your agent or does not, and the amount or rate of compensation and how that amount will be determined. Where the only act being performed is a showing under Section 1101.562, the agreement records that the license holder does not represent you as your agent, and two limits apply to it: it may not be exclusive, and it may not state a termination date more than fourteen days from the date it is entered into. Anything beyond the showing, an offer written on your behalf for one of these homes for instance, takes a separate agreement.

Five statements and one disclosure, under Section 1101.563(c). The agreement states the services the license holder will provide, the termination date, whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive, whether the license holder represents you as your agent or does not, and the amount or rate of compensation the broker will receive and how that amount will be determined. It also discloses, in conspicuous language, that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.

The compensation line is the one to read slowly. The consumer guide published by the National Association of REALTORS says every aspect of a written buyer agreement is negotiable, including the services, the length and the compensation, and that the compensation has to be clearly defined rather than left open-ended or given as a range. The same guide says you can still request, negotiate for and receive compensation for your own real estate professional from the seller or the seller's agent, and it notes that practices vary by state and local law. A termination date is not decoration either. Under Section 1101.652(b)(12), a license holder who, while engaged in real estate brokerage, fails to specify a definite termination date that is not subject to prior notice, in a contract in which the license holder agrees to perform services for which a license is required, gives a ground for discipline, and the statute excepts a contract to perform property management services from that rule.

It is the written notice about agency that Section 1101.558(b-1) requires at the time of a license holder's first substantive communication with you relating to a proposed transaction regarding specific real property. It comes in at least a 10-point font, and it describes the ways a broker can represent a party, including as an intermediary, the basic duties to a party the broker represents, the obligations to a party the broker does not represent, and it gives the license holder's name, license number and contact information.

Two more details travel with it. The notice also carries the contact details for the license holder's supervisor and broker, if applicable, and the commission prescribes the text of it by rule. Separately, under Section 1101.558(b), a license holder who represents a party discloses that representation, orally or in writing, at first contact with another party to the transaction or with another party's license holder. Section 1101.558(c) lists three situations in which the written notice is not required: a proposed transaction for a residential lease of less than one year where a sale is not being considered, a meeting with a party the license holder knows is represented by another license holder, and a communication at a property held open for any prospective buyer or tenant where the communication concerns that property. The commission's form page names the current form Information About Brokerage Services and gives its effective date as 1 January 2026. A form handed to you carries its version on its face.

Not as a dual agent. The commission's own answer is that Texas law does not permit a license holder to represent both principals that way, and Section 1101.561(b) requires a broker who agrees to represent both a buyer or tenant and a seller or landlord in one transaction to act as an intermediary. A broker may do that only with written consent from each party, and that consent has to say where any compensation the broker expects will come from.

Consent has a form requirement attached. A written listing agreement, or a written buyer agreement, that authorizes the broker to act as an intermediary establishes a party's consent only where it specifies, in conspicuous bold or underlined print, the conduct prohibited under Section 1101.651(d). An intermediary acts fairly and impartially. Under Section 1101.560, the broker may appoint one associated license holder to communicate with and carry out the instructions of one party and another to do the same for the other party, but only where the parties' written consent authorizes the appointment and the broker provides written notice of it to all parties. An appointed license holder may provide opinions and advice during negotiations to the party that license holder is appointed to. Section 1101.561(a) adds the part few people are told: an intermediary's duties displace those a license holder would otherwise have under any other law, including common law.

Five things, and Section 1101.651(d) attaches exceptions to the first three. A broker acting as an intermediary, and any license holder appointed under Section 1101.560, may not tell a buyer or tenant that the seller or landlord will accept a price less than the asking price, unless the seller instructs otherwise in a separate writing, and may not tell a seller or landlord that the buyer will pay more than the price submitted in a written offer, unless the buyer instructs otherwise in a separate writing.

The third prohibition is the one with three exceptions inside it. The intermediary may not disclose confidential information, or any information a party specifically instructed in writing not to disclose, unless the party instructs otherwise in a separate writing, unless disclosure is required by the chapter or by a court order, or unless the information materially relates to the condition of the property. The last two are shorter: the intermediary may not treat a party to a transaction dishonestly, and may not violate the chapter. That list is also what makes consent work. A written agreement authorizing a broker to act as an intermediary establishes consent only where it sets out the prohibited conduct in conspicuous bold or underlined print, so the list is on the page in front of you before you sign it.

Two searches and one look at a website. The commission publishes a license holder search that takes a name or a license number together with a license type, and Broker or Sales Agent is one of the types it offers. Check the sales agent and the sponsoring broker, because Section 1101.351(c) says a sales agent may not engage in real estate brokerage unless sponsored by a licensed broker and acting for that broker.

The same section closes the other gaps: a person may not act as, or represent that the person is, a broker or sales agent without a license issued under the chapter, and a business entity may not act as a broker without a license of its own. The brokerage is part of what you are hiring, not only the person. The commission also publishes a search of its disciplinary actions, with fields for a name or license number, a license type, a case number, a date range and a list of rule violations. Both are applications that return a result only to the person who runs them, so run them yourself. Third, Rule 531.20(b), as the commission states it, requires each broker and sales agent to provide a link on the homepage of their business website to the brokerage services notice, labeled in the commission's own words, Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services, in at least a 10 point font in a readily noticeable place, or TREC Information About Brokerage Services in at least 12 point font.

Ask whether they have read a current resale certificate for the home and the recorded declaration behind it. Section 82.157 of the Texas Property Code requires a selling owner other than a declarant, before executing a contract or conveying the unit, to furnish the purchaser a current copy of the declaration, the bylaws, any association rules, and a resale certificate that must have been prepared not earlier than three months before the date it is delivered, except in the cases Subsection (c) of that section provides for.

Two clocks pull against each other, which is why the timing of the request is a decision rather than a formality. The association has until the tenth day after the date it receives a written request from a unit owner to furnish the certificate, signed and dated by an officer or authorized agent, and it may charge a reasonable and necessary fee of up to $375. The three-month rule then limits how early a certificate is still useful. What the assessment works out to each month sits on the monthly assessment page, and what the association's policy covers, alongside what a buyer's lender looks for, sits on the insurance page. Ask which of those the agent has read for this building, and for the certificate's contents item by item, read the association documents page.

You can ask the broker to release you. The commission's own answer is that a buyer representation agreement is intended to be a legal and binding contract, that the commission does not have the authority to require a broker to release you from one, and that where the broker refuses, you should seek the advice of a private attorney. The agreement is with the broker rather than with the sales agent.

Two further points come from the same answers. The commission neither promulgates nor regulates a buyer representation agreement, because it is a private contract between a broker and a buyer, so its terms are whatever the parties wrote. A sales agent moving to a different sponsoring broker does not take the agreement along: the buyer stays represented by the previous broker, though the buyer may seek to be released from the agreement. The consumer guide published by the National Association of REALTORS says a buyer and a real estate professional can mutually agree to change an agreement, and that agreements may have specific conditions under which they can be exited, so the text of the agreement is the thing to read. That guide also notes that practices vary by state and local law.

You have four years after the date of the alleged incident to file a complaint with the Texas Real Estate Commission, and it cannot investigate an incident that occurred four or more years ago. The complaint has to be in writing and cannot be filed by phone. It cannot be anonymous either: anyone filing must provide a name and contact information. Anyone can file one, including another license holder.

The commission does not regulate everyone involved in a sale. Home builders and real estate developers are not regulated by it, and appraisers, mortgage brokers and title insurance companies each sit with a different state body. It also has no jurisdiction to act against a license holder for rude, unprofessional, disparaging or offensive comments on social media, unless the comment or action involves discrimination in a real estate transaction. A case that reaches a staff attorney has three outcomes: a letter closing the complaint, where there was no violation or insufficient evidence to prove one; an advisory letter, which joins the license holder's record and is considered if further complaints are filed; or a recommendation of formal discipline, which includes monetary fines, license suspension or license revocation. The commission has no authority to require a license holder to pay another person for monetary damages. It may in limited circumstances order a refund to a consumer, capped at what that consumer paid the license holder for a service the commission regulates and only where a complaint ended in an agreement from an informal settlement conference or an enforcement order. Disciplinary action is not a prerequisite for pursuing a lawsuit.