Question 1

Do you have to tell visitors you represent the seller?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and hosting an open house does not excuse it. TREC's 2026 guidance says an agent holding open their own brokerage's listing does not have to provide the IABS form or enter into a written agreement with visitors, but still has to disclose that they represent the owner, either orally or in writing. Say it out loud as you greet people, and carry the same line on your sign-in screen so there is a record that every visitor got it.

Question 2

Can you text an open house visitor afterwards?

Accepted Answer

Get the visitor's permission to be texted before they hand the device back, and keep the record of it with the lead. The Texas Secretary of State publishes the position, reached together with the Attorney General in 2025 litigation, that a business sending text messages with the consumer's prior consent does not have to complete the Telephone Solicitation Registration Statement under the state's telephone solicitation chapter. So the opt-in belongs on the sign-in form as a plain sentence the visitor actually reads, not buried in fine print, and the timestamped record of it is what you fall back on later.

Question 3

Does an open house visitor have to sign a buyer agreement?

Accepted Answer

It depends on whose listing it is. Holding open your own brokerage's listing, you need neither the IABS form nor a written agreement from visitors. Holding open another brokerage's listing when you do not represent the seller, TREC treats each visitor as a buyer you are showing: the IABS notice and a written showing agreement both have to be done before they view the property. Handle it as you greet them at the door, because a visitor who will not sign cannot be walked through.

Question 4

What do you owe a visitor whose details you collect?

Accepted Answer

Less than you might expect under Texas's data privacy act. The act applies only to a business that is not a small business under the federal Small Business Administration definition, so a solo agent or a small brokerage sits outside most of it. The one duty written to reach a small business is getting consent before selling personal data that the act defines as sensitive, a narrow category covering things like health, religion, citizenship status and precise location, not an ordinary name, phone and email. So an open house list is not usually sensitive data, but if you ever sell or trade one, check what is actually on it first.

Open house rules for Texas agents

Do you have to tell visitors you represent the seller?

Can you text an open house visitor afterwards?

Does an open house visitor have to sign a buyer agreement?

What do you owe a visitor whose details you collect?

How this page is put together

Open house rules where you also work

Your disclosure text, on the screen, at every open house