Specialized Transactions and Property Types
Property type changes the paperwork, not the principles
Commercial and investment questions focus on NOI, cap rate, lease structure (NNN versus gross), estoppel certificates, and environmental risk (Phase I ESA).
Farm and ranch questions focus on severed mineral estates, water rights, wind and solar leases, and agricultural valuation.
New construction shifts risk: builders use their own contracts, and Texas provides statutory warranty protections with a notice-and-opportunity-to-repair process before suit.
Condominiums require a resale certificate from the association; subdivisions with mandatory HOAs require a statutory resale certificate and disclosure under Property Code Chapter 207.
MUD and PID districts require written statutory notice to a buyer before the contract is executed - a favorite test item.
Timeshares carry a statutory right to cancel.
Exchange and withholding
A §1031 exchange requires a qualified intermediary, identification of replacement property within 45 days, and closing within 180 days. FIRPTA requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the gross sales price from a foreign seller.
Traps
- Texas is a non-disclosure state: sale prices are not public record, so a CMA is built from MLS data and licensee knowledge, not county records.
- Water and mineral rights can be severed and conveyed separately from the surface.
- "As-is" does not eliminate the seller's duty to disclose known defects on the Seller's Disclosure Notice.
Worked example
A buyer contracts for a lot inside a municipal utility district. The statutory MUD notice must be delivered before the contract is executed; skipping it creates a defect the buyer may use to rescind.