Owning a Home in Houston: FAQ

Lenders require it in high-risk flood zones, and many Houston owners carry it anyway because homes outside mapped floodplains have flooded. Get a quote during your option period so the cost is clear before you commit.

A floodway is the channel of a bayou or creek and the nearby land that must stay open to carry floodwater; a floodplain is the wider area with a set chance of flooding each year, such as the 1% annual chance of the 100-year floodplain. Official FEMA flood maps show which applies to a property, and you can look up any address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. For buyers, a home in a floodway or the 100-year floodplain usually means required flood insurance with a federally backed mortgage and stricter rules for rebuilding or adding on, so check the map before your option period ends. For sellers, the Texas seller's disclosure asks whether the property is in a floodplain, floodway, flood pool or reservoir, so answer what you know from the FEMA map and your own experience.

File with your county appraisal district by May 15 or 30 days after your notice, whichever is later, and bring recent comparable sales. We pull comparable sales for past clients from the period the district reviews.

A municipal utility district (MUD) funds water, sewer and drainage in many suburbs, and its tax is added to your property tax rate. The tax certificate and seller's disclosures show whether a home is in one.

Houston's clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, which moves foundations. Pier-and-beam homes often just need re-shimming, while slab repairs cost more; get a foundation company's opinion before negotiating.

Yes, and not just in older homes inside the city: termites also show up in newer homes and out in the suburbs, which is one reason a termite inspection is standard. Subterranean termites need treatment, and one recent Heights quote was about $2,100. An active drywood infestation usually calls for tenting the home for fumigation, which typically runs about $5,000 to $10,000 and means leaving the home for about 2 days. Drywood termite wings are common in older Heights homes and don't automatically mean an active infestation.

Caulking, sealing and paint touch-ups every 3 to 5 years, and a full repaint with elastomeric paint every 6 to 8 years, though how often depends on how much exposure the home gets to the sun and the elements. Most stucco damage we see starts with failed sealant around windows.

It depends on how many areas are damaged. On one Midtown townhome, two repair bids came in at $29,500 and $36,800, plus about $15,000 to repaint afterward. Another home needed only minor repairs of about $5,000, while other homes have needed major repairs that meant redoing much of the stucco exterior, which can exceed $75,000.

Yes. Many Houston neighborhoods have City of Houston historic districts, including parts of the Heights, Norhill, Montrose and others, and most exterior changes there need a Certificate of Appropriateness before work starts. You can check whether an address is inside one on the City of Houston's historic districts and sites map, then review that district's rules before planning an addition, new windows or a teardown.

Look for insulation pulled down by animals, missing moisture barriers, loose piers and water pooling under the house, which is bad for the piers and beams that support the home. On one Heights sale, animal-damaged insulation became a negotiation item, so screening and sealing crawlspace openings is worth doing before you list. Another home's crawlspace was too tight to actually crawl through, so the inspector couldn't fully check it, and on another, ponding water had soaked the crawlspace and was causing the home to settle excessively. Good drainage around and under the house protects the foundation.

About $5,700 a year for a homestead inside the City of Houston and Houston ISD at 2026 rates, or about $8,550 without a homestead exemption. Suburban homes in a MUD often pay more.

From our guide: Houston property taxes and MUD taxes in 2026

Bills are mailed in October and are due by January 31 of the following year. Pay even one day late and the bill jumps 7% on February 1: a 6% penalty plus 1% interest, so a $9,900 bill paid on February 1 costs about $693 more. Each month after that adds another 1% penalty and 1% interest (9% in March, 11% in April, 13% in May and 15% in June), and on July 1 the total reaches 18%. That's also when Harris County turns delinquent accounts over to its collection attorneys, who can add a collection penalty of up to 20%, and interest keeps adding 1% a month after that.

From our guide: Houston property taxes and MUD taxes in 2026

Often, yes. As a district adds homes and pays down its bonds, many MUDs lower their rates over time, but it varies by district, so check the rate history before you buy.

From our guide: Houston property taxes and MUD taxes in 2026

On a $400,000 home inside the City of Houston and Houston ISD, about $2,800 a year at 2026 rates. The exact amount depends on your home's value and the taxing units at your address.

From our guide: Texas homestead exemption: savings and how to file

Yes. Texas law lets you receive it for the rest of the year once you own and live in the home, as long as the previous owner didn't already have the same exemption that year.

From our guide: Texas homestead exemption: savings and how to file

The standard deadline is April 30, but appraisal districts accept late applications for up to two years after the delinquency date, which is usually February 1.

From our guide: Texas homestead exemption: savings and how to file

No. Once approved, the exemption stays in place as long as you own and live in the home, unless the appraisal district asks you to reapply.

From our guide: Texas homestead exemption: savings and how to file

No. Filing is free through your county appraisal district, and most applications take about 10 minutes online.

From our guide: Texas homestead exemption: savings and how to file

Not soon. FEMA posted draft MAAPnext maps in February 2026, preliminary maps and an appeal period come next, and the Flood Control District has estimated effective maps around 2028 to 2029.

From our guide: Houston flood zones and flood insurance

Texas law lets developers create municipal utility districts to build water, sewer and drainage systems for new subdivisions outside city limits, where no city provides those services. The district sells bonds to pay for that infrastructure, and homeowners repay them through a MUD tax on their property tax bill instead of paying for it up front in the lot price. A few other states use similar special districts under other names, such as community development districts in Florida and metropolitan districts in Colorado, but Texas relies on them heavily because so much growth happens in unincorporated areas. A MUD's rate often comes down as its bonds are paid off and its tax base grows.

Older neighborhoods were built when overhead lines were the standard and cheapest way to run power, and moving them underground later is expensive and disruptive. Newer subdivisions were usually built with underground utilities from the start, installed while the streets and lots were being developed. Buried lines are protected from wind and falling trees, while overhead lines are easier to reach for repairs but more exposed in storms like Hurricane Beryl in 2024.