Realtor and homeowner resources
The rules, fee schedules and maps that govern building west of Fort Worth — for realtors who need an answer while standing on a lot, and for homeowners doing their own diligence. Every entry links to the authority that publishes it and carries the date we last opened it.
Written for realtors advising a buyer and for homeowners planning a build. Nothing here is gated: no email, no form, no sign-in. Forward any of it, including a filtered view.
Downloads
Print them, or send the link. No email required.
The lot walk: what to look at in the hour you spend on the land
A field sheet for the hour you actually spend standing on a piece of land.
Download the PDF (4 pages, 173 KB): The lot walk: what to look at in the hour you spend on the land
Checked by Dale Proctor ·
The first thirty days after you close on land
Almost every delay at the start of a custom build traces back to something ordered late in the first month — a survey, a soil report, a septic test, a utility application.
Download the PDF (4 pages, 184 KB): The first thirty days after you close on land
Checked by Dale Proctor ·
Three builders, one page: a scorecard for the answers you get
Everyone hands you a list of questions to ask a builder. This is the other half — one page where three builders' answers sit side by side, with what a specific answer sounds like and what a vague one usually means.
Download the PDF (4 pages, 246 KB): Three builders, one page: a scorecard for the answers you get
Checked by Dale Proctor ·
What you pay while you build: the money before the house exists
The build price is the number everyone quotes. The one that surprises people is what leaves the account between closing on the land and moving in — deposits, soft costs, draws, interest on what has been drawn, and the months of paying for somewhere to live at the same time.
Download the PDF (6 pages, 265 KB): What you pay while you build: the money before the house exists
Checked by Dale Proctor ·
The order of decisions: what has to be chosen before what
Nobody tells you that choosing a bathtub is a framing decision, or that the fastest way to lose three weeks is to be undecided about one light switch.
Download the PDF (4 pages, 183 KB): The order of decisions: what has to be chosen before what
Checked by Dale Proctor ·
Showing 3 sources for Aledo under ETJ and unincorporated land.
ETJ and unincorporated land
- City of Fort Worth — extraterritorial jurisdiction
fortworthtexas.gov · The city describes its ETJ as the unincorporated land within five miles of the city limits. Land in an ETJ is not in the city, and the city's subdivision rules can still reach it.
- Jurisdiction
- West Fort Worth · Tarrant County · Parker County
- Last checked
- Local Government Code ch. 233 — county authority over housing and structures
tcss.legis.texas.gov · Draws the limits of county authority. Subchapter C is the fire code in unincorporated areas; the residential building-code standards in Subchapter F apply only to a county that has adopted them.
- Jurisdiction
- Texas
- Last checked
- SB 2038 as enrolled — release from a municipality's ETJ
capitol.texas.gov · The 2023 Act relating to release of an area from a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction by petition or election, adding Local Government Code ch. 42 Subchapters D and E.
- Jurisdiction
- Texas
- Last checked
Every entry links to the official page and shows the date it was last checked. Codes and fees change on their own schedules; read them at the source.