After Buying a Home in Houston: Your First-Month Checklist

After Buying a Home in Houston: What to Do in Your First 30 Days

Closing day feels like the finish line. It's not. After buying a home in Houston, there's a short list of things you need to handle in the first 30 days that will save you real money and prevent real headaches. Miss the April 30 deadline to file your homestead exemption with the county appraisal district? That could cost you $1,200 or more per year in property taxes on a median-priced Houston home. Forget to set up electricity before your move-in date in Texas's deregulated market? You'll get auto-assigned to a provider at a rate you didn't choose. Skip transferring water through your city or MUD? You might find the taps don't work on day one.

This is the new homeowner checklist Houston buyers actually need. Not a generic national list with "change your address at the post office" buried next to real financial decisions. These are Houston-specific tasks, in order, with the links, phone numbers, and deadlines that matter.

Set Up Utilities for Your New Houston Home

Texas has a deregulated electricity market. That means you don't just "call the electric company." You choose a Retail Electric Provider (REP) from dozens of options, and pricing varies wildly. This is the first thing to handle after closing because most providers need 3 to 7 business days to activate service.

Electricity: Use PowerToChoose.org

Go to PowerToChoose.org, the Public Utility Commission of Texas's official comparison tool. Enter your new home's ZIP code. You'll see plans ranging from around 10 cents per kWh to over 20 cents per kWh depending on plan length, usage tier, and whether you want fixed or variable rates.

For a 2,000 sq ft Houston home using about 1,200 kWh per month in summer, the difference between a 12-cent plan and a 17-cent plan is roughly $60 per month. That's $720 a year just from picking the right electricity plan.

A few REPs worth comparing: TXU Energy, Reliant, Gexa Energy, 4Change Energy, and Chariot Energy. Lock in a 12-month or 24-month fixed rate plan. Variable rate plans look cheap at first but can double in July and August when Houston hits triple digits.

Water and Sewer

This depends on where your home is located, and Houston's system can be confusing for new buyers.

• City of Houston: Call 311 or visit houstontx.gov to set up water service. You'll need your closing documents and new address. There's a deposit of around $80 to $120 unless you provide a credit letter.
• MUD (Municipal Utility District): If your home is in a MUD, which is common in Katy, Cypress, Spring, and many master-planned communities, water is handled by your district's operator, not the city. Your closing documents should identify the MUD. Search the Harris County or Fort Bend County appraisal district website for your property to confirm the district, then contact the MUD operator directly. Inframark and Si Environmental are two of the largest operators in the Houston area.
• Fort Bend County / Sugar Land: If you're in the City of Sugar Land, contact Sugar Land's Utility Customer Service at (281) 275-2750.

Don't assume water transfers automatically at closing. It doesn't. If the seller disconnects service before you set it up, you'll have no water on move-in day.

Gas Service

CenterPoint Energy handles natural gas for the Houston metro. Call (866) 539-2627 or visit centerpointenergy.com to start service. Unlike electricity, gas is not deregulated in Houston, so there's only one provider. Expect a small connection fee and a deposit if you don't have established credit with them.

Internet and Trash

Internet providers vary by neighborhood. Comcast/Xfinity and AT&T Fiber are the two most common in Houston. In newer communities, you may have Tachus fiber available. Check availability by address before closing so you can schedule installation early. Popular install windows book out 1 to 2 weeks.

Trash collection inside the City of Houston is included in your city services. If you're in an unincorporated area or a MUD, trash pickup is typically arranged through your HOA or the MUD, and the cost may appear on your MUD tax bill or HOA dues. Confirm who handles it so your garbage doesn't pile up that first week.

Filing Your Houston Homestead Exemption Step by Step

This is the single most valuable thing on the list. Filing your homestead exemption reduces your property tax bill by thousands of dollars, and it's free. There's no reason not to do it. Yet plenty of new Houston homeowners either don't know about it or put it off until they miss the deadline.

What the Homestead Exemption Saves You

In Texas, a homestead exemption removes $100,000 from your home's taxable value for school district taxes. On a $350,000 Houston home with a school tax rate of roughly $1.05 per $100 of assessed value, that's about $1,050 per year in savings from the school exemption alone. Many cities and special districts offer additional exemptions on top of that. For homeowners 65 and older, there's an additional $10,000 exemption plus a tax ceiling freeze.

Also, once your homestead exemption is in place, Texas law caps your assessed value increases at 10% per year. In a market where Harris County appraisals jumped 15% to 30% in some years, that cap protects your tax bill from spiraling.

How to File: Harris County vs. Fort Bend County

The process is similar but the portals are different.

Detail	Harris County	Fort Bend County
Appraisal District	HCAD (hcad.org)	FBCAD (fbcad.org)
Online Filing	Yes, through hcad.org	Yes, through fbcad.org
Filing Deadline	April 30 of the tax year	April 30 of the tax year
Late Filing Allowed?	Up to 2 years after deadline	Up to 2 years after deadline
Documents Needed	Texas driver's license (matching property address), closing statement	Texas driver's license (matching property address), closing statement
Phone	(713) 957-7800	(281) 344-8623

For Brazoria, Galveston, and Montgomery counties, the process is the same: file with that county's appraisal district before April 30. Each has its own online portal.

Step by Step: Online Filing

1. Update your Texas driver's license to your new address (you can do this online at txdmv.gov for a $10 fee).
2. Go to your county appraisal district's website (hcad.org for Harris County, fbcad.org for Fort Bend).
3. Search for your property by address to confirm it's in the system.
4. Locate the homestead exemption application. On HCAD, it's under "Forms" or you can file through the state's centralized portal at comptroller.texas.gov.
5. Upload a copy of your Texas driver's license showing the property address.
6. Submit. You'll get a confirmation. Save it.

If your license still shows your old address, update it first. The appraisal district checks that your ID matches the property address. This is the most common reason applications get rejected.

Your Week-by-Week First Month Checklist After Closing

Week 1: The Essentials (Days 1 to 7)

• Change the locks. You don't know how many copies of the old keys exist. A locksmith re-key runs $75 to $150 for a typical Houston home with 3 to 4 exterior locks.
• Confirm electricity is active. If you set it up before closing, verify the account is in your name.
• Confirm water is active. City of Houston or MUD, depending on location.
• Start gas service with CenterPoint if the home has gas appliances, water heater, or furnace.
• Test smoke detectors and CO detectors. Replace batteries in all of them. A pack of 9-volt batteries costs less than $10. A non-working smoke detector costs everything.
• Locate your main water shut-off valve and your electrical panel. In Houston's older neighborhoods like Meyerland or Bellaire, the shut-off is usually near the street. Know where it is before you need it at midnight during a pipe burst.

Week 2: Financial and Legal Tasks (Days 8 to 14)

• File your homestead exemption. Don't wait. Do it now while you're thinking about it.
• Update your address with the USPS (usps.com), your bank, employer, insurance companies, and the DMV.
• Review your homeowner's insurance policy. Confirm coverage amounts, deductible, and whether you need separate flood insurance. If your home is in a FEMA flood zone (common in areas near Brays Bayou, Cypress Creek, and parts of Pearland), your lender probably required a flood policy at closing. If your home is outside a flood zone, you should still consider it. Houston floods. That's not opinion. It's history.
• Set up autopay for your mortgage. Most servicers offer a 0.25% rate reduction for autopay. On a $300,000 loan, that's roughly $62 per month in interest savings over the life of the loan. At minimum, it prevents late payments.
• Save your closing documents in a safe place: the settlement statement, deed, title policy, and loan documents. You'll need the settlement statement for your tax return.

Week 3: Home Systems and Maintenance (Days 15 to 21)

• Replace the HVAC filter. Houston's heat, humidity, and pollen make this critical. A clean filter keeps your system efficient and your electric bill lower. Set a phone reminder to replace it every 60 to 90 days.
• Schedule an HVAC tune-up if the seller's inspection report was more than 6 months old. A maintenance visit runs $75 to $150 and can catch refrigerant leaks or capacitor issues before your first Houston summer.
• Check your water heater's age. Look for the manufacture date on the label. If it's over 10 years old, start budgeting $800 to $1,500 for a replacement. Water heaters don't give much warning before they fail.
• Inspect the attic for proper insulation and any signs of leaks or pest activity. Houston homes lose a lot of cooling efficiency through under-insulated attics.

Week 4: Community and Lifestyle (Days 22 to 30)

• Read your HOA documents if applicable. Know what you can and can't do before you paint the front door or plan a fence. HOA violation fines in Houston-area communities range from $25 to $200 per occurrence.
• Introduce yourself to neighbors. Sounds old-fashioned. It's also how you find out about the guy who trims trees cheaply, which plumber the neighborhood trusts, and whether the street floods in heavy rain.
• Register for community alerts. Sign up for Harris County Flood Control District alerts (harriscountyfws.org) and AlertHouston (alerthouston.com) for emergency notifications.
• Find your trash and recycling schedule. City of Houston residents: use the Houston Solid Waste app or check houstontx.gov by address.

Common Mistakes New Houston Homeowners Make

Forgetting the Homestead Exemption

This comes up constantly. People close on their home in June, get busy with moving, and don't think about property taxes until the bill arrives in October. By then, the April 30 deadline has passed. Yes, Texas allows late filing up to two years after the delinquency date. But why pay full taxes for a year when you don't have to? File within the first two weeks of owning the home.

Not Understanding MUD Taxes

If your home is in a Municipal Utility District, you pay MUD taxes on top of county and school taxes. In newer communities in Cypress or Katy, MUD tax rates can add $0.50 to $1.00 per $100 of assessed value. On a $400,000 home, that's $2,000 to $4,000 per year in additional taxes. This should have been discussed before you bought, but if it wasn't, check your tax bill carefully and factor it into your annual budget.

Choosing the Wrong Electricity Plan

Picking the cheapest-looking plan without reading the Electricity Facts Label is a $500+ mistake over a 12-month contract. Watch for minimum usage fees, high base charges, and rates that spike outside a narrow usage band. Spend 20 minutes comparing plans properly on PowerToChoose.org. It's the highest-return 20 minutes you'll spend that month.

Skipping Flood Insurance Outside the Flood Zone

Your lender only requires flood insurance if you're in a FEMA-designated flood zone. But during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, an estimated 70% of flooded homes in Harris County were outside mapped flood zones. A preferred risk flood policy through the NFIP costs around $400 to $600 per year. That's cheap relative to the $50,000+ average flood claim in the Houston area.

You Closed. Now Protect the Investment.

The first month after closing on a house in Texas sets the tone for your entire homeownership experience. File that homestead exemption. Choose your electricity provider carefully. Know whether your water comes from the city or a MUD. Check your flood risk honestly, not just what FEMA's map says.

If you bought through InSync, we walk you through all of this after closing. Because handling the home search and the loan means we're still here when you have questions on day 15 about your property tax account or which MUD operator to call.

Got questions about any of this? Schedule a free consultation or call Ben at (713) 548-7350. Whether you just closed or you're about to, we'll make sure nothing falls through the cracks.