Broker of record for home builders

You may not need a license at all

Texas exempts a builder's own sales staff. Tex. Occ. Code § 1101.005(6) says the Real Estate License Act does not apply to:

Three limits decide whether it covers you:

• Employees, not contractors. The exemption is for the owner's employees. An independent contractor paid per closing is not covered.
• Your homes, not someone else's. It covers structures the owner built. Selling another builder's homes is brokerage.
• Homes, not lots. It covers structures and the land under them. Selling land with no home you built on it is a different question.

Leasing is similar: § 1101.005(8) exempts an owner, or the owner's employee, leasing the owner's own property.

Why builders license anyway

• The MLS. MLS participation runs through a licensed broker who belongs to the local REALTOR association. No licensed firm, no listings in the MLS, and buyers' agents search the MLS first.
• Other builders' homes. Listing another owner's homes for a fee is brokerage and needs a licensed firm and a broker supervising it.
• A licensed sales team. Agents who hold a license have to be sponsored by a broker. The firm license is what they hang it on.
• Representing buyers. Working for a buyer on a home you did not build is brokerage.

What changes once you hold a license

The license follows the company into its own sales. The rules builders most often miss:

• Disclose the license in every contract and lease. 22 TAC § 535.144 requires a license holder dealing on its own behalf to disclose, in writing and before the contract is signed, that it is a licensed broker acting for itself.
• Advertising has to meet TREC's rules. Every ad carries the licensed name (§ 535.155). A community name used as the name of the business is an assumed name that has to be registered with TREC before it is used (§ 535.154).
• Give buyers the IABS notice. Licensed staff give the Information About Brokerage Services notice at the first substantive conversation about a specific home.
• Written buyer agreements. Since January 1, 2026, a license holder working with a buyer needs a written agreement before showing a home or presenting an offer (Tex. Occ. Code § 1101.563).
• Pay the broker, not the agent. Co-op fees and agent bonuses go to the buyer's broker. A sales agent may only be paid through their own sponsoring broker.
• Referral rewards. A refer-a-friend reward over $50 to someone who is not licensed runs into TREC's referral rule (§ 535.20). Check before you launch one.

What we do for a builder

• Serve as designated broker on your entity license, with the filings and the governance amendment that requires
• Write a policies and procedures manual for a builder selling its own inventory
• Hold the firm's designated REALTOR seat so your homes can go in the MLS (association and MLS fees are paid by the builder at cost)
• Manage your listings ourselves, or sponsor and supervise your own licensed hire
• Review your advertising, contracts and listings every quarter

Outside Texas

Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Utah each have their own owner exemptions, and they are not written the same way. We work through the rule for your state at scoping, before you sign anything. See how an engagement works.