Selling a house in Arlington, TX

A listing agent: the agent who represents you, the seller. In Texas a broker becomes the owner’s agent through an agreement with the owner, usually a written listing, and from then on owes you the minimum duties in state law. That means putting your interests above everyone else’s, including the broker’s own; telling you any material information about the property or the transaction; answering your questions and presenting every offer; and treating all parties honestly and fairly.

The license is the floor. What separates one agent from the next for your sale is local evidence: closed sales near your address, a pricing plan for the price band your home is in, and a straight answer about what happens if the first two weeks are quiet. The questions in section seven are written for exactly that conversation, and they work on us too.

Before the first meeting, look each agent up on the Texas Real Estate Commission’s license holder search. For the record, ours are Bradley Patterson (TREC #0773279), John Jordan (#0709882) and Kandi Patterson (#0640181), a team brokered by Signature Real Estate Group (#9012752). At the first substantive conversation about your property, any Texas agent must give you a one-page notice called Information About Brokerage Services. It explains who represents whom, and it is worth the two minutes.

Selling without an agent is legal, and TREC publishes its contract forms online. You would set the price, run the showings, deliver the disclosures and negotiate the contract and the repairs yourself.

This is the field a new Arlington listing joins. Every figure is for homes with an Arlington address that were for sale on October 27, 2026.

The two lines a seller should read twice are the 45-day median and the 263 homes, 29% of the market, listed more than 90 days. Both describe what is still for sale rather than how fast homes sold, but they are your competition: a buyer touring Arlington this week sees your house next to them. Price, measured against recent closed sales, is the lever you control.

586 of the 899 listings, or 65%, ask under $400,000. Shares are rounded to the nearest point.

Arlington covers a lot of ground, and the citywide median hides a spread of a little more than three to one between ZIP codes.

Together these 13 ZIP codes hold 898 of the 899 listings. A ZIP median mixes every kind of home listed there, so the closed sales on your own street say more about your price than this table does.

Arlington’s median asking price, $349,900, sits a hundred dollars under the $350,000 example in our Texas seller cost guide, so its math applies almost as written. In that worked example, closing deductions come to about $27,000, or 7.7% of the price, before the mortgage payoff.

• Brokerage compensation is the largest line and the only large one without a fixed price. The example uses 5% total ($17,500) only because round numbers are easier to check. TREC’s resale contract says compensation “is not set by law and is fully negotiable.”
• The owner’s title policy, which DFW sellers customarily pay, is $2,015 at $350,000 under Texas Department of Insurance rates effective March 1, 2026, and the premium is the same at every title company.
• Your share of this year’s property taxes is credited to the buyer at closing, because Texas taxes are paid after the year they cover.
• The smaller lines: half the escrow fee, deed preparation, tax certificates, recording the release of your mortgage lien, an HOA resale certificate if you have an association, and any repairs or credits negotiated after the inspection.

Every line, with the arithmetic shown at $350,000 and $550,000: what it costs to sell a house in Texas.

Taxes come up twice in a sale: in the buyer’s monthly payment math, and at closing, when the contract prorates the current year through the closing date and you credit the buyer for your share. The rate depends on the school district, and Arlington is split among five. Arlington ISD covers about 72% of the city by land area and Mansfield ISD about 15%; smaller areas are in Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Fort Worth and Kennedale ISDs.

Parcels in the Viridian Municipal Management District add 0.6201. Divide by 100 for a percentage: 2.1909 is about 2.19% of taxable value.

Exemptions change the bill, not the rate. School taxes are figured after the $140,000 homestead exemption ($200,000 at 65 or older or disabled), and the City of Arlington, Tarrant County and the hospital district each exempt 20% of a homestead’s value. A buyer’s first-year bill can be higher than yours, because the 10% homestead cap only starts the year after a new owner first qualifies.

Rates, exemptions and protest deadlines across the area: property taxes in Tarrant, Parker and Johnson counties.

The order is the same in Arlington as anywhere in Texas. The Seller’s Field Guide covers each step in more detail.

1. Know your value and your net. A price from closed comparable sales, then an estimate of what you keep after costs and your payoff.
2. Choose an agent and sign a listing agreement. It sets the price, the term, the services and the fee. TREC does not publish a standard listing form, so it is a private contract between you and the broker, and Texas license law requires it to have a definite end date.
3. Prepare the house and the paperwork. Sellers of a previously occupied single-family home generally owe the buyer a Seller’s Disclosure Notice under Section 5.008 of the Property Code, and homes built before 1978 also need a federal lead-based paint disclosure. Find your existing survey: with a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration, it may spare you the cost of a new one.
4. List, market and show. Photos, an accurate description and easy showing access come first.
5. Negotiate an offer. Texas resale offers are typically written on TREC’s One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), currently TREC No. 20-19. Look past the price to the financing, earnest money, option terms, closing date and any request for seller contributions.
6. Get through the option period. The buyer inspects, then asks for repairs or a credit, accepts the house as it is, or walks away.
7. Appraisal, loan approval and title. The buyer’s appraisal and loan approval come next, while the title company works through the title commitment.
8. Close. You sign at the title company, which pays off your mortgage and any other liens from the proceeds and sends you the rest once the sale funds.

A listing presentation is part interview, part sales pitch. Ask every agent the same questions, ours included, and compare the answers rather than the folders.

How did you price my home?

• Which closed sales did you use, and why did you leave others out?
• How does my house compare with them on size, condition, lot and updates?
• If showings are slow, when would you recommend a price change, and by how much?

Asking prices are hopes and closed prices are facts, so a good answer starts with sales that have closed. A number well above every other agent’s is not a reason to hire anyone. Ask what supports it, especially when 29% of Arlington’s listings are past 90 days.

What exactly will you do to market it?

• Who takes the photos, and will there be a floor plan or video?
• When does the listing go live, and where will it appear?
• How are showings scheduled, and how will I hear the feedback?
• Can I see a listing you marketed recently, from start to finish?

How long is the listing agreement, and how do I get out of it?

• When does it end, and will you consider a shorter term?
• Can I cancel early, and what would that cost?
• Could a fee still be owed after it ends, for example if a buyer who toured during the listing comes back later?

A listing agreement is a private contract between you and the broker, and TREC does not publish a standard one. Texas license law does require a definite termination date. Beyond that, the terms you sign are the terms you get, so read the cancellation clause and anything that applies after the end date before you sign.

What do you charge, and what about the buyer’s agent?

• What is your fee, and what exactly does it cover?
• Do you recommend offering anything toward a buyer’s agent? Why, and how much?
• If an offer asks me to pay the buyer’s agent, how will you advise me?
• Does your fee change if your brokerage also represents the buyer?

Since August 17, 2024, under the settlement involving the National Association of Realtors, offers to pay a buyer’s agent are no longer published in the MLS. Separately, since January 1, 2026, Texas law requires a buyer to sign a written agreement with their agent before being shown a home, and that agreement states what the agent will be paid. You can still agree to contribute: TREC’s resale contract has a line for it in Paragraph 12B(1). Compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable, and Texas law lets a broker sue to collect a commission only when the agreement is in writing and signed.

Who will I actually work with?

• Who prices the home, who negotiates the offers, and who picks up the phone on a Saturday?
• Will an assistant or another team member handle any part of my sale?
• If a buyer working with your brokerage wants my house, how will that work?

Teams are common, and a team works well when you know who does what. When one brokerage represents both buyer and seller, Texas calls the broker an intermediary. The broker needs the written agreement of both sides first, must treat both impartially, and may not tell the buyer you would take less than your asking price unless you authorize it in writing. With both parties’ written consent, the broker can appoint a different agent to advise each side.

How will you handle the option period?

• How many option days, and what option fee, would you advise me to accept?
• Do you recommend a pre-listing inspection on this house?
• When a repair request arrives, how quickly do you respond, and how do you weigh repairs against a credit or a lower price?

Most negotiation after the buyer’s inspection happens during the option period, and the clock is strict: TREC’s contract says time is of the essence for it. Ask for the plan before the house is listed, not after the repair request lands.

Who should I call to sell my house in Arlington, TX?

A licensed listing agent who sells in Arlington regularly and can show you closed sales near your address. Interview two or three, look each one up on the Texas Real Estate Commission’s license holder search, and compare how each one priced your home. Selling 817 Real Estate Group, whose office is in Arlington, is one of them.

What is the median home price in Arlington, TX right now?

As of October 27, 2026, the 899 homes for sale with an Arlington address on the NTREIS MLS had a median asking price of $349,900, about $180 per square foot. By ZIP code, medians ran from $174,250 in 76011 to $542,375 in 76005. These are asking prices of homes for sale, not closed sales.

How long does it take to sell a house in Arlington?

As of October 27, 2026, active Arlington listings had been on the market a median of 45 days, and 263 of the 899 (29%) had been listed more than 90 days. Those figures describe homes still for sale, so they measure current inventory rather than how fast homes sold. Price, condition and marketing are the parts a seller controls.

How much does it cost to sell a house in Arlington?

In our Texas worked example, a $350,000 sale, almost exactly Arlington’s $349,900 median asking price, has about $27,000 in closing deductions (7.7%) before the mortgage payoff. Most of that is brokerage compensation, which is negotiable. The owner’s title policy that DFW sellers customarily pay is $2,015 at that price under Texas Department of Insurance rates effective March 1, 2026.

What is the property tax rate in Arlington, TX?

For tax year 2026, an Arlington address in Arlington ISD pays a combined 2.1909 per $100 of taxable value: the city at 0.6298, Arlington ISD at 1.0961, and 0.4650 for Tarrant County, its hospital district and Tarrant County College together. Arlington addresses in Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Kennedale or Mansfield ISD pay between 2.1239 and 2.2417.

Do I have to pay the buyer’s agent when I sell in Texas?

Not automatically. TREC’s resale contract says each party pays its own broker under its own written agreement, and brokerage compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. Since August 17, 2024, offers to pay a buyer’s agent are no longer published in the MLS, and since January 1, 2026, Texas requires buyers to sign a written agreement with their agent before being shown a home. A seller can still agree to pay toward the buyer’s agent; the contract has a line for it in Paragraph 12B(1).