New home contracts and the lender appraisal addendum
TREC Contract Forms for Buying a New Home in Manvel
Updated November 2026
Which TREC contract forms and addenda apply when you buy a new home in Manvel?
In October 2026, TREC's forms list has two new-home contracts, Form 24-20 for completed construction and Form 23-20 for incomplete construction, plus Addendum 49-1 on the lender's appraisal.
Yolanda Ames, Houston Properties Team, Manvel
Source: Texas Real Estate Commission list of contract forms and addenda, October 2026.
Which TREC contract forms cover a new home in Manvel?
The Texas Real Estate Commission publishes two New Home Contract forms. Form 24-20 is for completed construction, and Form 23-20 is for incomplete construction.
Manvel still has sections being built, so the choice comes up often. The form names follow the state of the house: finished, or still under construction.
TREC's notice of its contract changes effective January 3, 2025 says those changes apply to all contract forms unless specified otherwise.
Real estate license holders are required to use these forms.
Which Manvel records belong beside the new-home contract?
The contract sets the terms, and the lot's own records set much of the monthly cost. Start with the lot's account with the Brazoria Central Appraisal District, which lists every unit that taxes it.
Ask the builder for the municipal utility district's notice to purchasers before you sign. It states the district's tax and the bonds its voters have approved.
The city line changes the bill. In Meridiana, MUD 56 lies entirely within the City of Manvel and MUD 55 entirely within the City of Iowa Colony. Pomona's districts sit outside any city.
Flood rules follow the same line. Inside the City of Manvel, a new home in zones A, AO or AE needs its lowest floor at least two feet above the base flood elevation.
Outside the city limits, Brazoria County has required new construction two feet above the FEMA elevation since May 2005.
Who works for whom when you buy from a Manvel builder?
The builder's sales staff work for the builder. Decide who will read the contract on your side before you share your budget at a model home.
Ask any agent you interview whether they will represent you under a written agreement. Then hand them the builder's contract, the price sheet and that month's incentives in writing.
Read the builder's written warranty before you sign. It covers what the document says, for as long as it says.
Questions & answers
Manvel questions, answered
When did TREC's current new home contract forms take effect?
Both New Home Contract forms carry an effective date of July 1, 2026 on the Texas Real Estate Commission's list of contract forms and addenda. That date applies to Form 24-20, for completed construction, and to Form 23-20, for incomplete construction. Before you sign on a new Manvel home, check the form number and date printed on the contract in front of you. Then you know which version you are reading.
The same list dates Addendum 49-1, on the lender's appraisal, to March 1, 2019, so the forms on it did not all change at once. Each form carries its own date. Set the contract's form number beside the list before any deposit is paid.
Is there a TREC addendum about the lender's appraisal when I buy a new Manvel home?
Yes. TREC lists the Addendum Concerning Right to Terminate Due to Lender's Appraisal as Form ID 49-1, effective March 1, 2019. It appears on the same list as the two New Home Contract forms. Its name gives its subject: a right to terminate tied to the lender's appraisal. Before you sign on a new Manvel home, ask whether your contract includes it.
Read the addendum itself for its terms, because the form name states only its subject. On a home in a mapped flood hazard zone, a lender will also have its own flood requirement. Ask the lender what it needs before the appraisal is ordered.
Does the mold remediation paragraph in TREC's contracts matter when I buy a new home in Manvel?
TREC added Paragraph 6E(11) in its changes effective January 3, 2025. Texas law requires a seller to give a buyer a copy of any mold remediation certificate issued during the five years before the sale, and the paragraph gives information about that requirement. TREC's notice says its changes reach every contract form unless specified otherwise. For this paragraph, it names the Unimproved Property Contract as the exception.
On a new Manvel home, ask the builder in writing whether any mold remediation certificate was issued for the property in the five years before the sale. Keep the answer in your file with the written warranty and the utility district's notice to purchasers.
What if a Manvel builder asks me to sign its own contract instead of a TREC form?
Read it closely, because it is the builder's document. A new Manvel home is priced by its builder and bought on the builder's contract. Ask whether the document carries a TREC form number, such as 24-20 or 23-20, and ask who prepared it. Then read it with your own agent before you pay any deposit or initial anything.
Get the incentives in writing, along with the price sheet the price came from. If you also own a home now, the builder's completion date and your sale date have to meet. Set the two dates side by side before you sign the builder's contract.
Does the TREC form decide what I can negotiate with a Manvel builder?
No, the builder's contract and that month's incentives decide what can move on a new Manvel home. A builder prices from a price sheet, while a resale is priced against closed sales. As of November 2026, Manvel resales closed at 98.4 percent of list price. That ratio describes resale bargaining, and it sets no builder's terms.
Compare a new home and a resale on the full monthly cost, not the price alone. Each section's utility district sets its own rate, and a newer section's district may still be repaying road and utility bonds. Ask for the district rate on both homes and the builder's incentives in writing, then lay the two side by side.
