A fence built six inches over the line is a fence you may have to move, at your expense, on your neighbor's schedule. An hour of checking beforehand is the best money in the whole project.
Start with your survey. Most homeowners have one from closing, and it shows the actual boundary along with any easements. Do not measure off the existing fence and assume it is right, because the old fence may have been put in the wrong place decades ago, and rebuilding on top of a mistake makes it your mistake. If the survey is missing or the corners are genuinely unclear, a new one costs a fraction of moving a finished fence.
Easements are the detail people miss. Utility and drainage easements often run along a rear or side line, and a fence across one can legally be removed by the utility with no obligation to put it back. If your line has an easement, we plan gates and removable panels so the utility can get in without cutting through your fence.
Deed restrictions and HOA covenants are the next stop, and in Houston-area neighborhoods they are frequently stricter than any city rule. Height limits, permitted materials, stain colors, and which way the finished side has to face are all commonly spelled out. Many HOAs also want the plan approved in advance, and that approval can take a few weeks, so it is the first thing to start rather than the last.
Permits depend on where the property sits. Requirements differ between the City of Houston, the smaller cities in the county, and unincorporated Harris County, and they change with fence height, with masonry columns, and when the fence encloses a pool. Pool enclosures in particular carry non-negotiable rules on height, gaps, and self-closing, self-latching gates, and those exist for good reason.
Finally, talk to your neighbor. You are not required to, but a shared fence line is a shared problem forever, and the conversation is cheap. It also opens the door to splitting the cost of a run that serves you both, which is a common and entirely reasonable arrangement.
None of this is exciting, and all of it is faster than rebuilding. When we walk your property line for an estimate, we flag what we see, but the survey, the covenants, and the permit are worth confirming before material gets ordered.