Real estate agents in Corpus Christi

All of Nueces County is in TDI's designated catastrophe area, one of 14 first-tier coastal counties. Texas law doesn't require windstorm insurance, but a mortgage lender near the coast will likely want it. To get a TWIA policy you must live in its area, have been turned down for wind and hail cover by an insurer, and have an inspection certificate.

That makes the house's windstorm paperwork part of your due diligence. A WPI-8 is issued for work inspected during construction, and a WPI-8-E for completed work inspected by a Texas-licensed engineer; TDI's windstorm website lets you search existing certificates. Ask the seller, through your agent, for certificates covering the roof and any additions. From April 1, 2026, new certificate applications are judged against the 2024 International Residential or Building Code.

Corpus Christi roofs and insurance credits

A roof rated Class 4 under UL 2218 earns the highest premium credit, though each insurer sets its own discount, and insurers often discount newer or damage-resistant roofs. If the inspection flags the roof, get a quote from roofing companies in Corpus Christi before the option period ends.

Anyone acting as a broker or sales agent in Texas needs a TREC license, and a sales agent must act for a licensed broker who sponsors them and answers for their work. Look the agent up on TREC's License Holder Lookup for active status, any discipline, education and, for a sales agent, the sponsoring broker. Agents owe you a fiduciary duty: your interests come before everyone else's, including their own.

Every agent must give you TREC's Information About Brokerage Services notice at the first substantive conversation about a property; the current form is IABS 1-2, effective January 1, 2026, and it must be linked on the agent's homepage. The Consumer Protection Notice, version CN 1-5 (effective September 1, 2023), is required too. Complaints go to TREC in writing through its REALM Portal within four years, and its recovery account can pay unpaid court judgments up to $125,000 per transaction.

Since January 1, 2026, an agent working for a homebuyer must sign a written agreement with the buyer before showing a home. It must state what the broker will be paid and say, conspicuously, that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. A broker can instead show a home under a non-exclusive showing-only agreement of no more than 14 days. TREC doesn't regulate commissions.

Most resales use TREC's One to Four Family Residential Contract, form 20-19, effective July 1, 2026. You deliver the earnest money and option fee to the escrow agent within 3 days of the effective date, and during the option period you can terminate for any reason, losing only the option fee. The seller of a single-family home must give you a Seller's Disclosure Notice; if it comes after you sign, you can terminate within seven days of getting it. Ask a licensed Texas real estate broker or lawyer to walk you through the form's deadlines.

Order a termite report through a TDA-licensed inspector too; see pest control in Corpus Christi.

Texas has no state property tax; Nueces Central Appraisal District values homes in the county as of January 1 each year, and local governments set the rates. Appraisal districts describe Texas as a non-disclosure state, so sale prices aren't reported to them.

• File the homestead exemption with the appraisal district, generally before May 1. School districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value, plus $60,000 more for owners 65 or older or disabled, both under amendments effective November 4, 2025. Confirm the amounts that apply to your account with Nueces Central Appraisal District.
• Protest a value by May 15 or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later.
• Pay generally by January 31 of the following year; penalties start February 1 on most unpaid bills.

For context, the statewide median sale price was $339,000 in July 2026, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center; it isn't a Corpus Christi figure. Tax and contract rules change, so confirm your situation with a licensed Texas real estate broker or tax adviser. Our Texas real estate guide has more, the Corpus Christi hub covers utilities, and real estate agents in Harlingen deal with the same coastal windstorm rules.