We Buy Houses in Houston, Texas

Settling an estate through the Harris County probate courts

Houses left in an estate in Houston go through one of Harris County's statutory probate courts downtown on Congress Street. Before a title company will close, somebody has to hold the legal authority to sell: an executor or administrator with letters from the court, a will probated as a muniment of title, or, when there is no will and no outstanding debt, heirs who sign an affidavit of heirship that gets recorded in the county's property records.

That can take months, and the house still needs insurance, utilities and taxes the whole time. We can put a cash contract in place during the case and close once the court signs off, and heirs who live elsewhere can close by mail through the title company.

Source: probate.harriscountytx.gov

Flood history and the Texas seller's disclosure

Since September 2019 the Texas Seller's Disclosure Notice has asked whether a house sits in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain or a floodway, whether it has flooded, and whether the owner has filed a flood claim. In a city that has been through Harvey, Imelda and Beryl, those answers decide a lot of traditional sales: buyers walk, or their lender requires flood insurance that changes what they can afford.

We buy houses that have flooded, houses in the floodplain and houses with an open or paid insurance claim, as they are. Tell us what happened and when, and the offer is built around it instead of falling apart over it at inspection.

Source: trec.texas.gov

No zoning, but deed restrictions still bind your lot

Houston is famous for having no zoning, but most older subdivisions are governed by deed restrictions instead, and the City Attorney's office has a team that takes violators to civil court. A garage converted without approval, a second unit in the back or a home business can all turn up as restriction problems once a buyer's title company starts reading the subdivision's recorded documents.

Selling to a cash buyer does not make a violation disappear, but it does mean nobody is asking you to cure it before closing. We read the restrictions with the title company and price whatever we find into the offer.

Source: houstontx.gov

City code cases and dangerous-building notices

Property maintenance complaints in Houston, from overgrown lots and junk to structures the City considers unsafe, are handled by Community Code Enforcement, now part of Houston Public Works, and most start with a call to 311. Notices that go unanswered can lead to citations and, on a vacant house, to the City clearing or securing the property and billing the owner.

If you have a notice on the door or a case number, we can still buy the house. Send us the paperwork with your address and the number we give you will already account for the work the City is asking for.

Source: houstontx.gov

Harris Central Appraisal District values and back taxes

The Harris Central Appraisal District mails value notices every spring, and the deadline to protest is May 15 or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later. Taxes that are still unpaid on February 1 go delinquent and pick up penalty and interest each month, and after that the county and school district can file suit to collect.

A sale settles all of it at the closing table. The title company pays the past-due balance out of the proceeds, so you do not need to catch up before you sell. Having your HCAD account number handy when you call lets us check the balance while we put the offer together.

Source: hcad.org

Slab foundations on Gulf Coast clay

Most Houston houses sit on a concrete slab poured over dense clay that expands after heavy rain and contracts in dry summers, and a lot of the older neighborhoods also deal with trees drawing moisture out from under one side of the house. The result shows up as cracks over doors, gaps at the baseboards and floors that are no longer level, and it is often the most expensive line in a buyer's inspection report.

You do not need to level the house or pay for an engineer's report to sell it to us. We account for the foundation when we make the offer, and if you already have a repair estimate, it helps us get you a firm number sooner.