Empowered Real Estate Decisions Start With Education.
I’m reviewing my guides one by one, and I’ll publish them here again once they’re ready. In the meantime, if you have a question about your property taxes or about buying, selling or renting a home, write to me or call me at (346) 654-5577, and I’ll answer it.
My Clients
2 guidesBuyer Guide
Your guide to buying a home with Lliliam Foster in Houston, Texas.
Your First Steps as a Homeowner
The ninety-day checklist I hand my clients at closing: locks, mailbox, change of address, utilities, license, Homestead, warranty, HOA and the printable list.
Buyer
8 guidesUnderstanding MUD Taxes in Greater Houston
What a MUD is, how to look up its rate and its debt, and how to figure the full monthly payment before you make an offer, in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend Counties.
Moving to Houston
How the City of Houston works without zoning, the north and northwest area by area, and the paperwork and deadlines of your first months here.
Your Credit, Before You Look at Houses
Where the score your lender looks at comes from, what each type of loan asks for, what moves the number, and a calendar for the months before you buy.
The Types of Inspection, Explained
What the general inspection looks at and what it leaves out, the inspections you can order separately, and how to decide which ones the house in front of you needs.
Leaving the Rental
Whether to rent or buy for now, the money you need to get started and the Texas programs that can help, and the steps from your pre-approval to the keys.
Buying New Construction
What the builder’s contract looks like, what can be negotiated when the base price moves very little, and the inspections a new home still needs.
How an Agent Gets Paid
What changed in August 2024 and in 2026, the ways your agent’s compensation can be arranged, all of them negotiable, and what to read in the agreement before you sign it.
Choosing Your Agent
What you can check on your own before you meet an agent, the questions worth asking in the interview, and what the law asks of every agent from the first conversation.
Seller
1 guidePre-Listing Home Preparation & Staging Checklist
How to get your home ready for the photos in three weeks, step by step, and what the seller’s disclosure asks about before you sign.
Homeowner
4 guidesProtesting Your Appraisal
What the appraisal notice tells you, the evidence that helps your case, and each step of the protest, from the informal meeting to the decision.
Your Home Insurance
Why flood needs its own policy, how a deductible works when it is a percentage, and the state’s own tool for comparing policies before you renew.
Your House, Month by Month
What to check in your home during the first year and after, month by month, written for the Houston climate, and who to call when something does not look right.
Hurricane Season
What to get ready calmly in the spring, the steps to take when a storm is in the forecast, and how to go back home and file your insurance claim.
Renter
1 guideRenting in Houston
What to read before you sign a lease, what Texas law says about repairs while you live there, and how to get your deposit back when you move out.
Investor
1 guideYour First Rental Property
Equity or cash flow, the numbers to run on a house before you buy it to rent out, and what Texas and federal law ask of you once the tenant moves in.
Page by Lliliam Foster, REALTOR® with Compass RE Texas, LLC, bilingual real estate advisor in Greater Houston.