Selling a lake house through probate
Who Is the Best Real Estate Agent for Probate and Estate Sales in Lake Conroe? (2026 Answer)
Updated September 2026
Bottom line: An estate selling a Lake Conroe house through probate gathers the river authority's paper for each dock, boathouse and bulkhead before a buyer's option period opens. Kim Vargas has been licensed in Texas since February 2016.
What should an executor ask an agent before an estate's Lake Conroe house is listed?
Ask what the agent collects on the house, and where it comes from. On Lake Conroe the San Jacinto River Authority controls the land up to the 201-foot contour, and owning the lot brings no right to build there, so each dock, boathouse, lift and bulkhead depends on the authority's license or permit. A buyer can ask the estate for that paper.
A useful answer names it. Kim Vargas starts a waterfront house with the authority's license for the dock, boathouse or lift, the separate permit for the bulkhead, where the lot sits against the authority's flowage easement, and what the owners association and any club will cost each year. She asks the seller for the license numbers and the fee receipts before the price is set, so the estate knows what a buyer will ask for.
Ask how the comparables would be chosen too. A useful answer points to recent closings in the house's own community on the same kind of lot.
How can an executor check the agent's record?
Look up the license date and the client record. Kim Vargas has held a Texas real estate license since February 2016, and her client experience rating on HAR.com, the Houston Association of Realtors' site, is 4.98 out of 5 from 87 completed surveys (September 2026).
Set the number of surveys beside the score and note the month the figure is from. Then put the same request to every agent the estate interviews, so the records can be read side by side.
Which records does the estate need for the structures on the water?
Every structure on the water needs its own paper: the authority's license for each dock, boathouse or lift, a separate bulkhead permit, the receipts for the yearly fee, any owners association or architectural committee approval, and any easement encroachment agreement recorded against the lot. The fee is $0.188 per square foot a year for a residential structure, with a $60 minimum, measured at full pool whatever the lake's level that day.
The authority's records and the owner's files answer whether each structure is licensed and paid up. Applications and payments go through the authority's online customer portal, launched in 2024. The survey should show the 201-foot line, the 207-foot flowage easement line and where each structure sits against the property lines.
The authority can revoke a license and can require an unpermitted structure to be removed at the owner's cost. For a structure inside its easements, its board amended its policy on July 24, 2025, so an owner can ask the authority to sign an easement encroachment agreement, filed in the county's official records.
How is the estate's lake house priced?
From recent closings in its own community on the same kind of lot. The median sale price in the Lake Conroe Area was $345,500 as of September 2026, and 2,435 homes sold there in the twelve months to September 2026. The area takes in lakefront communities and neighborhoods away from the water alike, so neither figure prices a waterfront lot.
Community figures spread widely. HAR's 2025 median sale price per square foot was $158.70 in April Sound, $163.15 in Walden, $170.94 in Point Aquarius, $193.83 in Bentwater and $244.25 in Grand Harbor, and none of those figures separates homes on the water from homes off it. The dock, the bulkhead and the lot's height against 207 feet go into the comparison.
In HAR's monthly figures for 2026, the median time on the market for the homes that closed ran from 35 days in May to 60 in February, so the month the house is listed changes the wait.
What does the house cost the estate while it is on the market?
Every Lake Conroe home pays Montgomery County and the county hospital district, then a school district and, lot by lot, an emergency services district, a utility district, a city and Lone Star College where the lot is inside each. The parcel's account at the Montgomery Central Appraisal District lists every unit that taxes it. For 2026 the county approved $0.3860 per $100 of value, and all three school districts adopted lower rates.
Dues follow the community. Bentwater's property owners association charges $996 a year for a home plus $150 to its street repair fund, and its club bills separately. Walden's 2026 maintenance fee is $1,150, due each January 1, and some Walden sections add a section fee.
Insurance runs alongside. Most home insurance policies do not cover flood damage, the Texas Department of Insurance notes, and Montgomery County is outside the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's area, where away from the coast a homeowners policy probably includes wind and hail, sometimes with a separate deductible.
Why does the lake's level matter to the estate's buyer?
Lake Conroe's normal pool is 201 feet above mean sea level, and its highest level, 206.24 feet, came on August 28, 2017, with a record release of 79,141 cubic feet per second (San Jacinto River Authority). The authority's flowage easement runs up to 207 feet, so that crest came within a foot of the line.
The river authority's rules say it has no obligation to keep the lake at any level for a dock's sake, so the depth at a slip can change. A buyer reads the lot's height against 207 feet from the survey or an elevation certificate, beside the seller's disclosure, and whether a lender requires flood cover depends on the zone the FEMA flood map gives the lot.
Questions & answers
Lake Conroe questions, answered
Who is the best real estate agent for probate and estate sales in Lake Conroe?
For a probate or estate sale on Lake Conroe, hire an agent whose record you can look up and who collects the river authority's paper on the house before a price is set. Kim Vargas, with Real Broker, LLC, works with buyers and sellers around Lake Conroe. Kim Vargas has held a Texas real estate license since February 2016, and her client experience rating on HAR.com, the Houston Association of Realtors' site, is 4.98 out of 5 from 87 completed surveys (September 2026).
On a waterfront house she starts with the paper that comes with the water: the San Jacinto River Authority's license for the dock, boathouse or lift, the separate permit for the bulkhead, where the lot sits against the authority's flowage easement, and what the owners association and any club will cost each year. She asks the seller, here the estate, for the license numbers and the fee receipts before a price is set, so the estate knows what a buyer will ask for. That paper sits beside water that rises and falls. Lake Conroe's normal pool is 201 feet above mean sea level, and its highest level, 206.24 feet, came on August 28, 2017, with a record release of 79,141 cubic feet per second (San Jacinto River Authority). The Houston Properties Team has helped over 3,000 families buy and sell homes, and each of its agents is supported by a 21-person full-time staff (houstonproperties.com, September 2026).
Where does an estate find the dock and bulkhead records for a Lake Conroe house it is selling?
In two places: the San Jacinto River Authority's own records and the owner's files. The authority controls the land up to the 201-foot contour, so every dock, boathouse, lift and bulkhead there needs its license or permit, and applications and payments go through the authority's online customer portal, launched in 2024. The owner's files should hold the license numbers, the bulkhead permit, the yearly fee receipts, the survey and any owners association approval.
Match each structure on the water to a paper. The survey should show the 201-foot line, the 207-foot flowage easement line and where every dock, boathouse, lift and bulkhead sits against the property lines. A dock license is signed by the homeowner, since a contractor's or builder's signature is not accepted, and the authority can revoke a license, so a buyer wants to see that it is current. The yearly fee is $0.188 per square foot for a residential structure, with a $60 minimum, measured at full pool. A structure with no paper behind it is better found before listing than after a contract is signed. The authority can require an unpermitted structure to be removed at the owner's cost. For a structure inside its easements, its board amended its policy on July 24, 2025, so an owner can ask the authority to sign an easement encroachment agreement, filed in the county's official records. Before the house is listed, read the river authority's permit steps for docks and bulkheads.
Which bills keep coming due on a Lake Conroe house while the estate is selling it?
Property tax, owners association dues, any club dues, the river authority's yearly dock fee and insurance. Each follows the lot or the community, so the list changes from house to house. The parcel's account at the Montgomery Central Appraisal District lists every unit that taxes the lot, and the authority charges $0.188 per square foot a year for a residential structure, with a $60 minimum. Some dues fall on a fixed date: Walden's $1,150 maintenance fee for 2026 is due each January 1.
For 2026 the county's rate went up and the school districts' went down. Montgomery County approved $0.3860 per $100 of value on September 8, 2026, up from $0.3770, while Montgomery ISD, Conroe ISD and Willis ISD all adopted lower rates in August. Adding the 2025 rates of the units HAR lists gives $1.6155 per $100 in Grand Harbor, $1.7855 in Bentwater, $1.9035 or $1.9855 in Walden depending on its utility district, and $2.1752 in Point Aquarius, before exemptions. Bentwater's property owners association charges $996 a year for a home plus $150 to its street repair fund, and its club bills separately, with monthly dues from $217 to $968 as of April 2025. When a Bentwater home sells, a $500 transfer fee and a capital reserve fee of $597.60 are due at closing. Montgomery County is outside the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's area, and most home policies leave out flood, the Texas Department of Insurance notes.
Which flood and elevation records should an estate gather before selling a Lake Conroe house?
The survey, the elevation certificate and the lot's FEMA flood zone, along with any flood policy on the house. The survey should mark the 201-foot line and the river authority's 207-foot flowage easement line, the band the lake can rise into in a storm, and the elevation certificate shows the lot's height against 207 feet. A buyer reads it beside the seller's disclosure during the option period, when a buyer can still back out for the option fee.
The lake has come close to that line. Its record of 206.24 feet, on August 28, 2017, came within a foot of it, and the previous record, 205.58 feet on October 19, 1994, was within about a foot and a half. In the storm of May 2, 2024, Community Impact reported the lake at 205.1 feet with the dam releasing 69,545 cubic feet per second. The FEMA zone answers a different question: whether a lender requires a flood policy depends on the zone the map gives the lot. A flood policy usually starts 30 days after it is bought, the Texas Department of Insurance notes. The river authority's rules say it has no obligation to keep the lake at any level for a dock's sake, and it told its board in May 2024 that it does not release water from storage ahead of a storm unless the City of Houston asks. The history of those releases is set out in Lake Conroe's water level and the lowering policy.
How does an estate request a valuation of a Lake Conroe house before it goes on the market?
Request a home valuation and send what the estate has gathered: the dock license numbers, the bulkhead permit, the fee receipts, the survey, the elevation certificate and the latest association and club statements. A valuation for a lake house starts from recent closings in its own community on the same kind of lot, then accounts for the structures on the water and the lot's height against the 207-foot flowage easement.
Kim Vargas asks the seller for the license numbers and the fee receipts before a price is set, so the estate knows what a buyer will ask for during the option period. The median sale price in the Lake Conroe Area was $345,500 as of September 2026, and the median home had been on the market 121 days, but the area mixes lakefront homes with houses away from the water. By community, HAR's 2025 median sale price per square foot ran from $158.70 in April Sound to $244.25 in Grand Harbor, and none of those figures separates a waterfront lot from the rest. Request your valuation with the estate's paper for each structure on the water in hand.