We Buy Houses in Texas

Where we buy in Texas

Our Texas coverage centers on the four big metros. Greater Houston runs across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. Dallas-Fort Worth covers Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton. San Antonio is Bexar County, and the Austin market spans Travis and Williamson. We also buy on the Gulf Coast in Nueces County and in El Paso County out west.

Each county page explains what we look at there, because the questions are genuinely different. A 1950s pier-and-beam bungalow inside Loop 610 has almost nothing in common with a 2006 slab-on-grade house in a Fort Bend MUD or a hail-battered roof in Denton County.

Six things that shape a Texas sale

• Foreclosure is non-judicial and fast. Most Texas deeds of trust let the lender sell without going to court, and sales happen on the first Tuesday of every month.
• There is no real estate transfer tax. Texas does not tax the deed, so a seller's closing costs are lower here than in Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina.
• Property taxes are high and set by appraisal districts. Your value comes from a county appraisal district, and dozens of overlapping taxing units set the rate.
• MUD taxes are common in suburban Houston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and parts of Denton County, and sellers must give buyers a statutory MUD notice.
• Expansive clay soil moves. Foundation performance is a routine inspection issue across DFW and Houston, and a failed elevation report can end a financed sale.
• Homestead law is strong. If the property is a homestead, a spouse generally has to join in the conveyance even when only one name is on the deed.

If a trustee sale is already scheduled

This is the most time-sensitive situation in Texas. For a debt secured by the borrower's residence, the servicer must first give notice of default and at least 20 days to cure. After that, notice of the sale has to be filed with the county clerk, posted at the courthouse, and mailed to the borrower at least 21 days before the sale date. Sales are held on the first Tuesday of the month between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Once that sale happens, there is no general right of redemption on a mortgage foreclosure in Texas. That is the key difference from a tax sale, where a residence homestead has two years to redeem, or an HOA assessment foreclosure, where the owner has 180 days. So the practical window is the weeks before the first Tuesday, not after it. If you have received a notice, send us the date on it and talk with a HUD-approved housing counselor about every option, not only a sale.

Inherited property and Texas probate

Texas probate is unusually seller-friendly. Independent administration, where the executor acts without asking the court to approve each step, is the normal route when the will allows it or the heirs agree, and it is much faster and cheaper than court-supervised administration in most states.

There are shorter paths too. If the only debts are liens against real estate, a will can sometimes be probated as a muniment of title, which passes the house without appointing an executor. Where there is no will, an affidavit of heirship recorded in the county deed records establishes the chain of title, though title companies apply their own underwriting standards to it and may want a judicial proceeding instead. One hard deadline matters: a will generally has to be offered for probate within four years of death.

Property taxes, appraisal districts, and tax sales

Texas has no state income tax and leans on property tax instead, so tax problems are a common reason owners sell. Values are set by a county appraisal district as of January 1, notices go out in the spring, bills arrive in October, and payment is due by January 31. On February 1 the account goes delinquent and penalties and interest start.

A homestead exemption caps the annual increase in a homestead's appraised value at 10 percent, and owners who are 65 or older or disabled can get a tax ceiling and may be able to defer payment entirely. If taxes stay unpaid, the taxing units can sue and sell the property at a tax sale. Delinquent taxes do not have to be cleared before you sell to us: they show up in the title search and are paid out of the closing proceeds.

Tenants, leases, and Texas rentals

Selling does not end a lease in Texas. A buyer takes the property subject to the existing tenancy, and the security deposit is transferred to the new owner, who becomes responsible for it. That means you can sell a tenant-occupied house mid-lease without evicting anyone or waiting out a vacancy.

For a month-to-month tenancy, at least one month's notice is the statutory default. Evictions run as forcible entry and detainer cases in justice court and are faster in Texas than in most states, but they still cost time and money. We buy occupied rentals, including ones where the tenant has stopped paying or a case is already filed.

Weather, water, and foundations

Texas produces several kinds of damage that make a conventional sale hard. Hurricane and flood damage on the Gulf Coast, from Harvey in 2017 through Beryl in 2024, left homes with unfinished repairs and unresolved claims. Hail is a DFW specialty and drives roof and insurance problems. The February 2021 winter storm burst pipes statewide, and some of that repair work was never finished or never permitted.

Then there is the ground itself. Much of Texas sits on expansive clay that swells and shrinks with moisture, which moves slabs and pier-and-beam foundations alike. An engineer's report showing movement, or piers installed without documentation, will often stop a financed buyer. We evaluate the house with the foundation as it is.

Closing a Texas sale

Texas closings are handled by title companies rather than attorneys. The title company runs the search, clears what it can, prepares the settlement statement, and records the deed with the county clerk. Because there is no transfer tax on the deed, seller costs are driven mainly by the owner's title policy, any payoffs, and prorated property taxes.

Texas requires a seller's disclosure notice for most residential resales, though transfers by an executor or administrator, by a trustee, and certain foreclosure-related transfers are excepted. Selling as-is does not remove the duty to disclose defects you actually know about — and telling us about them up front is what keeps an offer from changing later.

Frequently asked questions