Texas seller disclosure rules for a resale home
What the Texas Seller's Disclosure Notice Requires for a Lake Conroe Home Sale
Updated November 2026
What does Texas require a seller to disclose when selling a previously occupied home on Lake Conroe?
As of October 2026, Texas requires the Seller's Disclosure Notice from Lake Conroe sellers of previously occupied single-family homes, for contracts entered on or after September 1, 2023.
Kim Vargas, Houston Properties Team, Lake Conroe
Source: Texas Real Estate Commission, Seller's Disclosure Notice form (TREC 55-1), May 2026.
Which Lake Conroe sellers use the Texas Seller's Disclosure Notice?
The Seller's Disclosure Notice form (TREC 55-1), published by the Texas Real Estate Commission, names the sellers it is for. It ties the form to a contract for the sale of real property entered into on or after September 1, 2023.
Its questions come from state law. TREC's form says it carries the information required by Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code regarding material facts and the physical condition of the property.
The notice changed after the 88th Legislative Session. TREC's Broker-Lawyer Committee recommended that the Commission adopt changes to the notice, which TREC also calls TREC OP-H.
This disclosure form is required by sellers of previously occupied single family residences and is to be used in conjunction with a contract for the sale of real property entered into on or after September 1, 2023.
What does a buyer read beside the disclosure on a Lake Conroe lot?
The survey and the elevation certificate. On the lake, a buyer sets the seller's answers against two lines on the survey. One is 201 feet, normal pool.
The other is 207 feet, the top of the San Jacinto River Authority's flowage easement. That is the band the lake can rise into in a storm.
The elevation certificate gives the lot's height against 207 feet. That height carries weight here, because the lake's record of 206.24 feet, on August 28, 2017, came within a foot of the line.
Whether a lender requires flood insurance is a separate question. It follows the zone the FEMA flood map gives the lot.
Why gather the lake paper before a Lake Conroe price is set?
A buyer reading the disclosure on a waterfront house also asks for the river authority's paper. That means the license for each dock, boathouse or lift, the separate bulkhead permit and the receipts for the yearly fee.
The authority controls the land up to the 201-foot contour. It can require an unpermitted structure to be removed at the owner's cost, so a gap found before listing is settled on the seller's schedule.
Kim Vargas of Real Broker, LLC asks the seller for the license numbers and fee receipts before the option period ends. That way a seller knows what a buyer will ask for before the price is set.
Questions & answers
Lake Conroe questions, answered
Do I have to disclose the gas piping in my Lake Conroe house?
Yes, on the Seller's Disclosure Notice. TREC reports that HB 697 updates the notice required under section 5.008, Texas Property Code. The bill adds language requiring a seller to disclose the type of gas fuel piping used in a home. That question sits on the notice TREC's form says sellers of previously occupied single family residences use, for contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2023.
Find out the piping type before the house goes on the market, so the answer is ready when you fill in the notice. A question left open until a buyer's option period is harder to settle on your own schedule.
When does my Lake Conroe buyer need to get the disclosure notice?
On or before the contract's effective date. If the contract is signed first, the buyer may end it for any reason within seven days of receiving the notice. On a Lake Conroe listing, have the notice filled in before the house goes live, so a buyer has your answers from the first showing rather than after an offer.
A notice ready at the start keeps that seven-day window from opening late in a deal. HAR's Coming Soon status can hold a signed listing off showings for up to 21 days while the paper is gathered, and it turns Active by itself after that.
What flood questions will I answer on the disclosure for my Lake Conroe house?
The Texas notice asks whether you know of current flood insurance and of floodwater ever entering a structure in a natural flood. It asks whether the lot lies in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain or a floodway. It also asks about any flood claim filed with any insurer and any FEMA or Small Business Administration assistance for flood damage.
The answers are your own knowledge, so check the records you hold before you write them: any flood policy, past claim papers and the elevation certificate. Most home insurance policies do not cover flood damage, the Texas Department of Insurance notes. A flood policy usually starts 30 days after it is bought, so buyers price that cover early.
Does an estate selling a Lake Conroe house have to give the seller's disclosure notice?
Not when the sale is made by a fiduciary in the course of administering the estate, which is exempt from the notice. The buyer then leans on other records: the river authority's license for each dock, boathouse or lift, the bulkhead permit, the fee receipts and a survey marking the 201-foot and 207-foot lines.
Where nobody living knows the house's history, those documents answer for it, so gather them before the listing. Ask a Texas probate attorney whether your sale falls inside that exemption before you decide which papers go to a buyer.
What should I bring when I ask for a valuation before I fill in the disclosure on my Lake Conroe house?
Request a home valuation and bring what a buyer will read beside your answers: the survey, the elevation certificate, any flood policy, the dock license numbers, the bulkhead permit, the fee receipts and the latest association and club statements. The figure starts from recent closings in your own community on the same kind of lot, then weighs the structures on the water and the lot's height against 207 feet.
The area median of $346,000 as of November 2026 mixes waterfront and inland homes, so it frames the market without pricing a lot on 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. Request your valuation with that file together.
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