Guidelines for owners without a RE license holding open houses in Texas?

Question

What are the requirements for an owner to hold an open house in Texas?

I have a townhouse in Spring Branch TX that we are looking to sell owner finance.  I have it listed with a broker, but they refuse to hold any open houses.   I have been trying to get them to let me host the open house for a couple months now, but the broker is not cooperative and will not post the open house on the MLS.   They say I can do what I want on my own.  My realtor in Galveston says it is no problem and owners can host their own showings without a RE license.   I found this on TREC and sent to my current broker, but they still will not post open house on the MLS:

https://www.trec.texas.gov/agency-information/rules-and-laws/trec-rules

§535.4 License Required

(g) Unless otherwise exempted by §535.5 of this chapter (relating to License Not Required) and §1101.355(d) of the Act, a business entity owned by a broker or sales agent which receives compensation on behalf of the license holder must be licensed as a broker under the Act.

§535.5 License Not Required

( c ) A real estate license is not required for an individual employed by a business entity for the purpose of buying, selling, or leasing real property for the entity. An entity is considered to be an owner if it holds record title to the property or has an equitable title or right acquired by contract with the record title holder. An individual employed by a business entity means a person employed and directly compensated by the business entity. An independent contractor is not an employee.

What am I missing?

What can I show them to get the approval to show an open house on the MLS with me hosting as the owner of the property?

Thanks!  Les

Gustavo Delgado · Answer

I am curious why the agent you hired is refusing to do an open house at their clients request? Is this a discount broker that is only going to list on mls and help with the transaction? You can host your own open house but be aware of questions you get asked and what you disclose or fail to disclose. But bottom line is you hired an individual for a service and they are not meeting your needs. May be time to TERMINATE the listing agreement and hire another agent...

Leslie McIntosh · Answer

Thanks @Guy Gimenez

They said I can do anything I want  but they will not mark it as open house on the mls   So might as well just used aa discount broker it seems   At least for the listing side   any tips for getting them to mark it as an open house?

Leslie McIntosh · Answer

Agreed. Talking to my partners about next steps.  The realtor is happy to mark it open house for me. His broker will not allow it.  🤷🏻‍♂️

Leslie McIntosh · Answer

Thanks!  I am more frustrated that the broker agency refuses to mark it as open on the mls. I hear both sides of the open house argument. But I really do not understand it.  We are open to offers creative or not. We are focused on finding a WRAP buyer for this property though.  I have been asking to do my own open house for a bit but just not making headway with the broker.  Probably won’t do business with this company in the future.  I will definitely think twice if I see their logo.

Kevin Hintz · Answer

You hired this agent for their expertise. If open houses are a dealbreaker for you and there's no room for negotiation, then terminating the listing agreement might be the best course of action. However, it's always good to have a clear conversation with your agent first. Explain your concerns and see if there's a way to find a solution that works for both of you

Guy Gimenez · Answer

@Leslie McIntosh

You're a principal in the transaction so you can absolutely hold an open house. As a principal in 98% of all my transactions, I show my properties, draft my own deeds, notes, deeds of trust, etc. You don't give up constitutional rights just because you hired a broker.

Bruce Lynn · Answer

I am not an attorney and don't even play one on TV, but as I understand it, as the owner of the home you can hold open houses if you want.  Not sure you need it in MLS to be flagged as open, but can't hurt.  Get out all the bandit signs, advertise it on CL and FB marketplace.   Not sure if it is possible, but see if you can snag the listing off Zillow as the owner and place there.  You can make flyers and hand them out to all the neighbors and put it in front of the listing.  Make your own signs if you are determined to do this.

I'm not a fan of open houses for a lot of reasons, so understand their reluctance to do it, but lots of agents want to do it, so normally in our office the experienced agents don't do them, but there are lots of new agents who have been told this is a good way to build their business.    Normally if I have a seller that insists on open house, I'll find a new agents to do it.   I only do open houses to get more listings from the neighbors, not to find buyers.  That's way to random trying to pick up buyers and I don't like letting a bunch of random unqualified people in your home and wasting my time and potentially exposing you to more risk. Realistically out of thousands of open houses agents in my office have held open, I'll be no more than 2 or 3 have sold to someone who visited on the open house.  However if you insist, I will find someone to do it.

Why on earth would you work with an uncooperative Broker....that makes no sense to me.  Plenty of hungry agents.  Also do you only want to owner finance or are you open to having buyers bring their own financing.  While there are people looking for owner financed properties, many of my buyers don't like the terms, so not interested if you will only sell owner financed.

Guidelines for owners without a RE license holding open houses in Texas?

Most Popular Reply