Most Texas land sales use TREC's Unimproved Property Contract (9-18) for platted lots or the Farm and Ranch Contract (25-17) for rural acreage. The Property Code adds land-specific notices, and land with an ag or open-space valuation can owe rollback taxes when its use changes.
Land and houses sell through different paperwork in Texas. A land buyer asks about access, acreage, water, utilities, platting and how the tract is taxed. Most of those answers come from a short list of state forms and statutes, and it helps to know them before you sign anything.
This guide covers the statewide rules: which contract to use, the notices the Property Code requires, title and survey, ag valuation and rollback taxes, and closing. If your land sits in Tarrant, Dallas, Collin or Denton County, our DFW guide to selling vacant land adds the county clerks, appraisal districts and city plat offices you will deal with.
Pick the TREC contract that fits the land
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) publishes two contracts written for land. Both current versions took effect on July 1, 2026.
- Unimproved Property Contract, TREC No. 9-18. It replaced 9-17. TREC describes it as generally used for property that has been platted, meaning it has a recorded lot and block legal description.
- Farm and Ranch Contract, TREC No. 25-17. TREC says it is generally used for rural property with a metes and bounds description from a survey. Its property paragraph lists farm improvements such as windmills, tanks, barns and fences, and it lets the seller harvest growing crops until the buyer takes possession unless the parties agree otherwise.
The 25-17 form also says any reservation of oil, gas, minerals, water or timber is made in an attached addendum. If you plan to keep any of those rights, that is a drafting job for a Texas real estate attorney, not a blank to fill in at the kitchen table. Paragraph 23 of both forms tells the parties to consult an attorney before signing, and the forms state they are intended for use by trained license holders.
Where to look in TREC 9-18: paragraph 3D (price adjustment if the survey shows different acreage), 4B (natural resource leases), 5 (earnest money and option fee), 6B to 6D (title commitment, survey and objections), 6E (statutory notices), 7F (Seller's Water Disclosure), 9B (deed and tax certificates) and 13B (rollback taxes).
Notices Texas requires when you sell land
Several Property Code sections apply to land and not to a typical city house. The TREC forms build some of them into paragraph 6E, but the duty belongs to the seller.
- Additional tax notice (Section 5.010). The owner of vacant land must put a bold-faced notice in the contract. It warns that a buyer may not qualify for the special appraisal you have now, and that the transfer or a later change in use may bring an additional tax. The notice is not needed if a separate paragraph of the contract expressly provides for paying those taxes. If the notice is left out, the buyer can recover from the seller the additional taxes caused by the transfer, or by a change in use within five years after the transfer.
- Annexation notice (Section 5.011). Land outside city limits may be in, or later added to, a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and may be annexed. The seller gives this notice before the contract binds the buyer. It does not apply to land wholly inside a city's limits.
- Pipeline notice (Section 5.013). A seller of unimproved land that will be used for homes must disclose the location of transportation pipelines, to the best of the seller's knowledge. If the notice is not given, the buyer may terminate within seven days after the contract's effective date.
- Utility service area notice. Paragraph 6E(6) of 9-18 carries the notice required by Section 13.257 of the Water Code. Land may sit in a certificated water or sewer service area, and the buyer may face special costs and a wait before service is available.
- Seller's Water Disclosure. Paragraph 7F of 9-18 uses a TREC form to describe wells, ponds, tanks and water rights. You can skip it only if every condition listed in 7F is true, such as not knowing of any well, pond, lake or water tank on the land. If you deliver it after signing, the buyer may terminate within seven days after receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first.
Each section has its own exceptions, such as court-ordered transfers or sales to a spouse. Check the text before deciding a notice does not apply.
Title commitment, survey and acreage
Land deals often turn on the survey. Under paragraph 6B of 9-18, the seller must furnish a title commitment within 20 days after the title company receives the contract. If it is late, the deadline extends automatically up to 15 days or to 3 days before closing, whichever is earlier, and the buyer may terminate if it still does not arrive.
Paragraph 6C sets who orders the survey and who pays. The surveyor must be a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and any lender. The 25-17 form adds a box for "No survey is required." The buyer then has a set time to object to title or survey problems, and under 6D the seller gets 15 days to cure objections, as long as the seller is not obligated to spend money doing so.
Price can move with the survey. If you check the box in paragraph 3D, the price adjusts by a per-acre amount for any difference between the stated acreage and the surveyed acreage. If the price adjustment is more than 10% of the sales price, either party may terminate within the number of days written in that paragraph after receiving the survey.
Ag and open-space valuation: what a sale changes
Many Texas tracts are taxed on productivity value instead of market value. The Comptroller explains that productivity value is usually lower than market value. To qualify as open-space land under Tax Code Section 23.51, the land generally must have been devoted mainly to agriculture for five of the preceding seven years. Land inside a city faces extra requirements under Section 23.56.
Three rules matter when you sell:
- The buyer must reapply. Section 23.54(e) generally requires a new application when ownership changes. There are narrow exceptions in 23.54(e-1), such as a surviving spouse.
- Rollback follows a change in use. Under Section 23.55, when the use of the land changes, an additional tax is imposed. It equals the difference between the taxes paid under the special appraisal and the taxes that would have been due at market value, for each of the three years before the year of the change. A tax lien attaches on the date the use changes.
- Part of a tract can roll back alone. If only part of a parcel changes use, the additional tax applies only to that part, under Section 23.55(d).
The chief appraiser decides whether the use changed, and the owner may protest. Sales for right-of-way, condemnations and transfers to a public body for a public purpose are excluded from the rollback by Section 23.55(f).
The contract decides who bears the bill. Paragraph 13B of 9-18 puts rollback on the buyer if the sale or the buyer's later use causes it, and on the seller if the seller's use or change in use before closing causes it. That obligation survives closing. Before you price the land, pull your record from the county appraisal district so you know the current appraisal method.
Platting: selling a whole tract versus part of one
Selling the tract exactly as your deed describes it is the simple case. Dividing it is where plat rules start.
- Inside a city or its ETJ. Local Government Code Section 212.004 says an owner who divides a tract into two or more parts must have a plat prepared, including a division by a metes and bounds deed. It excludes parts larger than five acres when each part has access and no public improvement is dedicated.
- In unincorporated areas. Section 232.001 requires a plat for a subdivision, and Section 232.0015 lists exceptions, including parts all larger than ten acres with no public dedication, and some divisions of farm land or among relatives.
- Deeds and plats. Property Code Section 12.002 bars a subdivider from using a subdivision's description in a deed or contract until the plat is approved and recorded. A contract may be made expressly contingent on plat approval.
If you want to split off part of a tract that still has a loan on it, our guide to selling part of mortgaged land in Texas covers partial releases and plat timing.
Leases and rights that travel with the land
Paragraph 4B of 9-18 asks whether the seller is a party to a natural resource lease, which covers oil and gas, mineral, geothermal, water, wind and similar leases. If you are, either hand over copies before signing or deliver them within three days after the effective date. If copies come later, the buyer may terminate within the number of days written in 4B.
Easements, old reservations and leases you did not sign show up in the title commitment instead.
Closing a land sale
Within three days after the effective date, the buyer delivers earnest money and any option fee to the escrow agent named in paragraph 5. At closing, paragraph 9B(1) requires the seller to sign a general warranty deed and furnish tax statements or certificates showing no delinquent taxes. Any lien not being assumed is paid from the sale proceeds.
Under paragraph 12A(1)(a), the seller's expenses include releases of existing liens, tax certificates, deed preparation and half of the escrow fee. The title company then records the deed with the county clerk. If you inherited the land, read our guide to selling inherited property in Texas first, because title may need to pass through the estate before you can sign a deed.
For faster timelines and owner-run sales, see our guides on how to sell land fast in Texas and selling land by owner in Texas, or browse every post in our land category.
If you also have a house to sell
Land questions often come up alongside a house, such as an inherited home or a property you no longer want to manage. Cash Home Advisors is based in Fort Worth and buys houses across DFW. When we buy a house, we can close in 7 to 14 days, we pay all closing costs, and you see the closing statement before you sign.
To see how a sale works, read how it works, check the houses we buy, or request a cash offer on your house.
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Frequently asked questions
Is there a special contract for selling land in Texas?
Yes. TREC publishes the Unimproved Property Contract (No. 9-18), generally used for platted lots with a lot and block description, and the Farm and Ranch Contract (No. 25-17), generally used for rural tracts described by metes and bounds. Both current versions took effect July 1, 2026.
What is the additional tax notice for vacant land?
Texas Property Code Section 5.010 requires the owner of vacant land to put a bold-faced notice in the contract warning that the buyer may lose a special appraisal and that the transfer or a later change in use can bring additional taxes. It is not needed if a separate paragraph of the contract expressly says who pays those taxes.
Who pays rollback taxes when land sells?
Under paragraph 13B of TREC 9-18, the buyer pays if the sale or the buyer's use after closing causes them, and the seller pays if they come from the seller's use or change in use before closing. You can negotiate a different split in writing.
Does the buyer keep my ag valuation?
Not automatically. Tax Code Section 23.54(e) generally requires a new application after the land changes ownership, and the new owner has to meet the use test on its own.
Sources
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 5 (Secs. 5.010, 5.011 and 5.013 seller notices)
- Texas Tax Code, Chapter 23 (Secs. 23.51-23.55 open-space appraisal and rollback)
- Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 212 (city platting)
- Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 232 (county platting)
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 12 (Sec. 12.002 plats and deed descriptions)
- Texas Real Estate Commission, Unimproved Property Contract TREC No. 9-18
- Texas Real Estate Commission, Farm and Ranch Contract TREC No. 25-17
- Texas Comptroller, Agricultural and timber exemptions and special appraisal
General information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to a Texas attorney or CPA about your situation.