Desert construction, desert problems

El Paso housing is built for heat and very little rain: stucco over frame or block, adobe in the oldest stock, flat and low-slope roofs with built-up or single-ply membranes, and evaporative coolers either alongside or instead of refrigerated air.

Each of those has a failure mode that affects a sale. Roof membranes reach the end of their life and leak. Stucco cracks and lets water into the wall. Evaporative coolers, which work well in this climate, are often treated by lenders and insurers as inadequate cooling, which can block financing on a house that is otherwise sound.

The older parts of the city

Central and south El Paso — Sunset Heights, Segundo Barrio, Chihuahuita, and the neighborhoods around downtown — hold the city's oldest housing, some of it a century old, with adobe and early masonry construction, original wiring, and galvanized plumbing. The Northeast, near Fort Bliss, is largely post-war. The east side and the far west filled in later.

Foundations here sit on caliche and, in places, expansive clay, so movement happens, though the pattern differs from the Gulf Coast. Arroyo flooding is the local water risk — the August 2006 storms caused serious flood damage across the city — rather than river or coastal flooding.

Fort Bliss and absentee ownership

Fort Bliss moves a large number of households through El Paso, and the familiar pattern follows: a house bought during an assignment, kept and rented after orders came, managed from another state or overseas for years. Those rentals are often in worse shape than the last report suggested, and overseeing a renovation from a distance is impractical.

We buy them occupied or vacant, and the whole sale can be handled without returning to El Paso.

El Paso property we buy

  • Older stucco and adobe houses in central and south El Paso
  • Flat and low-slope roofs at the end of their service life
  • Houses cooled only by evaporative coolers
  • Post-war housing in the Northeast near Fort Bliss
  • Military rentals owned from out of state or overseas
  • Rentals with tenants in place
  • Homes with arroyo flood or drainage history
  • Vacant lots and unbuilt parcels
  • Inherited homes where the estate was never opened

Frequently asked questions

Do you buy houses with flat roofs that need replacing?

Yes. Low-slope and built-up roofs at the end of their life are common here and do not have to be replaced first.

Will you buy a house with only an evaporative cooler?

Yes. Lenders and insurers often treat that as inadequate cooling, which is a frequent reason these houses become cash sales.

Do you buy adobe houses?

Yes, including older adobe and early masonry construction with original systems.

I am stationed elsewhere and own an El Paso rental. Can I sell remotely?

Yes. Signing is arranged where you are and proceeds are wired.

Do you buy houses with flood or drainage damage?

Yes. Tell us what happened and what was repaired.