To fill out the TREC listing agreement, you actually need to know that the Texas Real Estate Commission does not publish one. TREC promulgates purchase-and-sale contracts but directs sellers and brokers to use a listing agreement drafted by an attorney or a trade association.1Texas Real Estate Commission. Contracts The form nearly every Texas seller signs is the Residential Real Estate Listing Agreement, Exclusive Right to Sell (TXR 1101), published by Texas REALTORS® and available to licensed brokers through that organization. Your broker will typically populate the fields based on your listing appointment, but you are the one signing it, so you should understand what goes in each paragraph before you do.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
The form assumes you can supply a handful of specific facts. Gather them first so the appointment doesn’t stall.
- The property’s legal description: lot, block, and subdivision, not just the street address. Your deed or your county appraisal district’s website has it.
- A listing price. Your broker will recommend one from comparable sales; the final number is yours.
- Start and end dates for the term. Residential listings commonly run three to twelve months.
- Compensation terms. Broker fees can be a percentage, a flat dollar amount, or a hybrid. No rate is set by law; every detail is negotiable.2Texas REALTORS. Guide to Broker Commissions in Real Estate Transactions
- A list of items you are excluding from the sale. Anything permanently attached (built-in shelving, mounted TV brackets, ceiling fans) is a fixture and conveys unless you specifically exclude it.
- Owners’ association name, contact information, and dues if the property sits in a mandatory HOA.
A quick boundary before the walkthrough: TXR 1101 creates an exclusive-right-to-sell arrangement, meaning the broker earns a commission no matter who finds the buyer, including you. If you want an exclusive-agency arrangement (you keep the right to sell it yourself without owing a fee), that requires a different form or significant modifications, and you need to raise it before signing.
Filling Out TXR 1101 Paragraph by Paragraph
The form is organized into numbered paragraphs. Work through them in order.
Paragraph 1: Parties
Name the seller or sellers and the broker’s firm. Every person who holds title must be listed here and must eventually sign. If you and a spouse are on the deed, both names go in.
Paragraph 2: Property
Section 2A takes the legal description. Section 2B lists permanently installed improvements. Section 2C covers accessories like window units and garage-door remotes. Section 2D is where you list items excluded from the sale. Section 2E asks whether the property is in a mandatory owners’ association; check the box and supply the HOA details if it is.
Paragraph 3: Listing Price
Enter the price you and the broker have agreed to advertise. This paragraph also notes that the seller agrees to pay typical closing costs.
Paragraph 4: Term
Write in the start date, when the broker’s authority begins, and the end date, when it expires. After the end date the broker cannot market or sell the property, subject only to the protection period covered in Paragraph 5.
Paragraph 5: Broker’s Compensation
This is where the money lives, and it is the paragraph most worth reading slowly.
Section 5A sets the compensation amount, either as a percentage of the sales price or as a flat fee. Section 5B defines when compensation is “earned,” typically when a ready, willing, and able buyer is found or when the property closes. Section 5E sets the protection period length. Section 5G authorizes the escrow agent (usually the title company) to pay the broker directly from closing proceeds so you don’t have to write a separate check.
Under the terms of a national antitrust settlement that took effect August 17, 2024, the listing agreement must now include a conspicuous statement that broker compensation is fully negotiable, and sellers can no longer advertise a buyer-agent commission on the MLS.3National Association of REALTORS. NAR Settlement FAQs You may still choose to offer compensation to a buyer’s agent outside the MLS, but any such offer requires your prior approval and cannot be published through the listing service. Practically, that means treating listing-side compensation and any contribution toward a buyer’s agent as two separate decisions. Both amounts, if any, go into Paragraph 5.
Paragraph 6: Listing Services
This paragraph controls whether and how the property appears in the Multiple Listing Service. You can opt out. Doing so sharply reduces exposure, so opt out only if you have a specific reason.
Paragraph 7: Access to the Property
Authorize or restrict lockbox installation and use of third-party showing-scheduling services. If you have pets, a security system, or tenants in the home, note the specifics here so showings run without incident.
Paragraph 8: Cooperation With Other Brokers
This paragraph addresses what, if anything, the listing broker will offer to a buyer’s agent. It works differently than it did before August 2024: any offer of buyer-side compensation stays off the MLS and requires your prior approval.3National Association of REALTORS. NAR Settlement FAQs
Paragraph 9: Intermediary Status
Check “yes” or “no” on whether you consent to the broker acting as an intermediary if a buyer represented by the same brokerage wants to purchase your home. Consenting allows the broker to represent both sides subject to certain disclosure obligations. Declining means the brokerage cannot represent both parties in that scenario.
Paragraph 10: Confidential Information
This paragraph defines what the broker cannot share without your permission, such as your willingness to accept a lower price. You do not typically fill anything in; you rely on it.
Paragraph 12: Seller’s Representations
You are warranting that you have authority to sell, that you are not aware of undisclosed liens, and similar facts. Read the list carefully. These are legally binding statements, not boilerplate.
Paragraph 15: Special Provisions
This is a blank field for terms that don’t fit elsewhere. Common uses: requiring 24 hours’ notice before showings, blacking out certain hours or days, or noting a tenant lease that will remain in place.
Paragraphs 16 and 17: Default and Mediation
Paragraph 16 covers what happens if either party breaches, including the broker’s right to compensation or damages. Paragraph 17 requires the parties to attempt mediation before litigation. Nothing to fill in, but know it’s there.
Disclosures and Addenda That Travel With the Listing
Signing TXR 1101 is not the end of the paperwork. Several documents attach to or accompany it.
Information About Brokerage Services (IABS)
Texas law requires the broker to hand you a written notice explaining the different ways a broker can represent parties: as an agent for the seller, an agent for the buyer, or as an intermediary. The notice, formally titled Information About Brokerage Services (TREC No. IABS 1-0), must be delivered at the first substantive communication about a specific property.4State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code 1101.558 – Representation Disclosure TREC prescribes the exact text.5Texas Real Estate Commission. Information About Brokerage Services You don’t prepare it; make sure you receive it.
Seller’s Disclosure Notice
For a single-family residence, Texas law requires you to give the buyer a written disclosure of the property’s known condition, covering roof leaks, foundation problems, past flooding, malfunctioning systems, and more. Fill it out to the best of your knowledge; if you genuinely don’t know an answer, mark “unknown” and that satisfies the requirement.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code 5-008 – Sellers Disclosure of Property Condition
Several sales are exempt from this requirement:
- Court-ordered sales and foreclosures
- Transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy
- Sales by fiduciaries administering an estate, guardianship, or trust
- Transfers between co-owners or between family members in the same direct bloodline
- Transfers between spouses or as part of a divorce
- Sales to or from a government entity
- New construction that has never been occupied
- Sales where the dwelling’s value is less than five percent of the total property value
Prepare the disclosure early. If a buyer enters a contract without having received it, the buyer has seven days after finally receiving the notice to terminate for any reason.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code 5-008 – Sellers Disclosure of Property Condition
You have no duty to disclose whether a death by natural causes, suicide, or unrelated accident occurred on the property, or whether a prior occupant had HIV or AIDS.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code 5-008 – Sellers Disclosure of Property Condition
Lead-Based Paint Disclosure
If the home was built before 1978, federal law adds a separate disclosure obligation. Before the buyer is locked into a purchase contract, you must disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards, provide all available inspection reports, give the buyer the EPA’s “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” pamphlet, and allow at least ten days for a lead inspection. The purchase contract itself must include a Lead Warning Statement and a signed buyer acknowledgment. Your listing broker is legally responsible for compliance on your behalf.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
Who Signs, and How
Every person on title must sign. If you co-own with a spouse, both of you sign, even if only one of you has been dealing with the broker. If an owner is unavailable, a properly executed power of attorney that specifically grants authority over real estate transactions can let a designated agent sign on that person’s behalf; consult an attorney before relying on one, because the power of attorney must comply with Texas law to be enforceable.
The broker, or a licensed agent acting on the brokerage’s behalf, also signs. Without that signature, the document is not a binding contract.
Electronic signatures through platforms like DocuSign or Dotloop are standard in Texas real estate and legally equivalent to ink. In-person paper signing at the brokerage office works too. Either way, make sure you receive a fully executed copy, with both parties’ signatures, before the broker begins marketing.
Two Provisions Sellers Often Misread
The Protection Period in 5E
Paragraph 5E extends the broker’s right to a commission after the listing agreement expires. If a buyer who was introduced to the property or expressed interest during the listing term later closes with you after the agreement ends, the broker may still be owed a fee.
Length is negotiable, commonly 30 to 180 days. To activate it, the broker must give you written notice listing the specific names of prospective buyers before or shortly after the listing expires. The protection period generally becomes void if you sign a new exclusive listing agreement with a different broker.
If you plan to let the listing expire and either relist or sell on your own, read the names on the broker’s list carefully. Selling to someone on that list during the protection window means you owe the original broker’s fee.
Terminating Early
The listing agreement is a binding contract. Under Paragraph 16, if you breach, the broker may be entitled to the agreed compensation or to recover damages. In practice, many brokers will release a reluctant seller voluntarily, sometimes in exchange for reimbursement of marketing expenses already incurred (photography, staging, advertising). Ask for the release in writing. A verbal cancellation is difficult to enforce and leaves you exposed to a later commission claim.
If you and the broker cannot agree on a release, Paragraph 17 requires you to attempt mediation before filing a lawsuit. That is where most listing disputes get resolved.