Welcome home to Houston

Houston is in Harris County. The county determines where the property is appraised and taxed, which is worth confirming for any address near a county line.

Ask the school district for the attendance zone that serves that exact address. Zones are drawn by the district rather than by the city or the subdivision, boundaries can run through a neighbourhood, and districts redraw them periodically as they open new campuses. School information on a listing is entered by the listing agent and is not authoritative.

It may. Many Greater Houston neighbourhoods sit inside a Municipal Utility District that levies its own property tax for water, sewer and drainage. Rates vary between districts and generally decline as the original bonds are repaid, so ask for the full tax breakdown on the specific address rather than a rate for the area.

Start with the Seller's Disclosure Notice, which asks directly about prior flooding and floodplain status. Then review the current FEMA flood map and any elevation certificate for the property. Drainage varies street to street, and homes outside mapped floodplains do flood, so assess this per property rather than per neighbourhood.

Not through public records. Texas is a non-disclosure state, so sale prices are not recorded publicly — verified sold prices exist only in the MLS. I can pull comparable closings in a specific Houston subdivision for you.