The Woodlands Edition | July 2024

Real estate

BY COLBY FARR & CARSON WEAVER

BY HANNAH NORTON

Texas’ rst statewide ood plan says 5 million people at risk

Multiple Listing Service rules changing

Stay tuned

After the policy changes take e ect, a nal approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for later in November. “Houston is going to be a ected like everyone else because it’s a national settlement,” Mouton said. “We’re no di erent than any other state.”

Over 5 million Texans live or work in areas vulnerable to ooding, according to a draft of the state’s rst ood plan. State lawmakers tasked the Texas Water Devel- opment Board with creating the plan in 2019, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The 267-page draft, published in early May, recommends over $54.5 billion in funding from various sources to reduce ood risks. The board discussed the plan during a May 30 public hearing in Austin. Board members are expected to adopt a nal ood plan in August and submit it to the Legislature by Sept. 1. The details The plan includes ndings from 15 regional ood planning groups, which have been working since October 2020, and makes several recom- mendations for state and local ood policies. “Although ooding has certain benets, like recharging groundwater and providing vital

nutrients to ecosystems and agricultural lands, it remains a signicant threat to the health and safety of Texans,” the plan reads. “Each of the state’s 254 counties has experienced at least one federally declared ood disaster, proof that oods can aect all areas of Texas.” The plan noted roughly 70% of ood-related deaths occur on roadways, particularly during the night and at low-water crossings. The planning groups identied nearly 64,000 miles of roads in areas susceptible to ooding. The board asked the Texas Legislature to expand early warning systems for oods, create minimum building and infrastructure standards to reduce fatalities and property damage, improve low-water crossing safety, and enhance dam and levee safety programs. “We want to put out a state ood plan that does what it is tasked to do, and that is to save lives and save property,” board Chair Brooke Paup said.

A $418 million settlement with the National Association of Realtors in March may impact fees for buyers, sellers and real estate agents, starting in August. The settlement—brought on by class-action lawsuits alleging brokerages inated buyer- seller commissions—will force the NAR to make policy changes to Multiple Listing Services, online platforms where real estate agents list homes. According to the settlement, sellers will pay smaller commissions and buyers will decide how much their agents are paid, among other changes. “When an agent searches for a home for their client, [the MLS tells] you what the listing agent is actually o ering for compensation,” said Thomas Mouton, chair of the Houston Association of Realtors. “Now, that will not be displayed anywhere on the site.”

Flood risks Around one in six Texans live or work in ood-prone areas, the Texas Water Development Board found. Over one-fourth of Texas’ land area is vulnerable to ooding.

Updated MLS policies The changes outlined by the NAR settlement in March that go into e ect in August include:

Compensation disclosures to sellers, and prospective sellers and buyers, are required. MLS participants can’t lter or restrict listings to clients based on the level of compensation o ered to the agent. Listing agents can no longer make compensation o ers to buyer agents on the MLS.

5.22M people

1.66M buildings

2024

March 15: Settlement agreement signed April 24: Preliminary approval of settlement review granted by the court Aug. 17: Practice changes take e ect; earliest day for lawsuit noti cations to be issued to those impacted Nov. 26: Final approval hearing for the settlement

63,900 miles of roads

1.29M homes

12.65M acres of agricultural land

MLS users must enter an agreement with buyers before home tours.

6,258 hospitals, EMS departments, re stations, police stations and schools

SOURCE: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORSCOMMUNITY IMPACT

SOURCE: TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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