We buy land in Texas

How a land sale works in Texas

Most land sales follow the same few steps. The buyer and seller agree on a price and sign a written purchase contract. A title company (or a real estate attorney) then checks the public records for anything that could cloud the title, such as unpaid taxes, liens, or a missing heir.

At closing, the seller signs a deed, the money changes hands, and the deed is recorded with the county clerk. Any unpaid property taxes and liens are paid off out of the sale price at closing, as with any sale.

• Agree on a price and sign a purchase contract
• The title company searches the records and orders tax certificates
• Problems get fixed (a missing signature, an old lien, an heir to track down)
• Closing: you sign the deed, back taxes and liens are paid from the sale price, and you get paid
• The deed is recorded with the county clerk

Deeds, in plain words

A deed is the paper that moves ownership from the seller to the buyer. In Texas the main difference between deed types is what the seller promises about the title.

• General warranty deed: the seller promises to stand behind the title against anyone's claim, even problems from before they owned it.
• Special warranty deed: the seller stands behind the title only for problems that started while they owned it.
• Deed without warranty: passes the land with no promises about the title at all.
• Quitclaim deed: passes along whatever ownership the seller has, if any, without promising there's any to pass.

Title insurance and closing

Title companies search the public records for problems that need fixing before a sale closes. A title insurance policy then protects the buyer's ownership against covered problems that turn up later.

In Texas, the state sets title insurance premiums. Every title company charges the same premium for the same policy. Other closing charges, like escrow fees, tax certificates and recording fees, can differ between companies. You can pick any title company you want, and you can bring an attorney to the closing.

When you sell to us, we pay all the closing costs. That doesn't make back taxes or liens go away. The title company pays those off out of the sale price at closing, just as it would in any sale.

Recording and transfer taxes

A deed has to be recorded in the county where the land sits, with the county clerk. Recording puts the world on notice. Under Texas law, an unrecorded deed doesn't protect the new owner against a later buyer who didn't know about it, which is why the deed gets recorded as part of closing.

Some states charge a transfer tax when land changes hands. In 2015, Texas voters added a rule to the state constitution: no law passed after January 1, 2016 may put a transfer tax on a sale of land. Your closing statement will list the recording fees and other charges, and we pay those when you sell to us.

Why Texas land prices are hard to find

Texas is called a non-disclosure state. Texas law doesn't require buyers or sellers to report what they paid for land. Sale-price information that appraisal districts get from private sources is also kept out of public records.

That makes it hard to know what land like yours is worth. Before you sell to anyone, get more than one opinion: a local land agent, a nearby landowner, or an appraiser.

Here's the honest tradeoff. A cash sale usually brings less than a patient sale on the open market. In exchange, we pay cash, take the land as it is, pay the closing costs, and carry the cost and risk of holding and reselling it. If the highest possible price matters more to you than speed and simplicity, listing with a local land agent may get you more.

Ag valuation and the rollback tax

Some Texas land is taxed on an agricultural ("ag" or open-space) valuation. Instead of market value, it's valued on what the land can produce as a farm or ranch, which usually means a lower tax bill. Ask the appraisal district whether your land has it.

If land with the open-space (1-d-1) valuation stops being used for agriculture, the owner owes a rollback tax. That's the difference between the taxes paid at the ag value and the taxes that would have been due at market value, for each of the three years before the change. Texas cut that lookback from five years to three in 2019.

For this kind of ag valuation, it's a change in use that triggers the rollback, not the sale itself. A buyer who keeps the land in qualifying ag use usually avoids it, but a new owner generally has to file a new application with the appraisal district. Another kind, called 1-d, can bring a rollback when the land is sold or stops being farmed. Ask the appraisal district which kind your land has, and ask the title company how any rollback would be handled in your sale.

The property-tax calendar

Texas has no state property tax. Local taxing units, like the county and the school district, set the rates. The appraisal district sets the value, and a tax office sends the bill. Here's how the year runs.

• January 1: land is valued as of this date, and that year's tax lien attaches to it.
• By May 1 (or soon after): the appraisal district mails a notice of appraised value for land if the value went up, the land is new to the tax roll, or a few other reasons.
• May 15, or 30 days after your notice arrives, whichever is later: the deadline to file a protest if you disagree with the value.
• By October 1 (or soon after): tax bills go out. Taxes are due when you get the bill.
• January 31: the last day to pay. Unpaid taxes are delinquent on February 1.
• Split payment: if your taxing unit has adopted it, you can pay half before December 1 and the other half before July 1 with no penalty. Ask the tax office.

When taxes on vacant land go unpaid

Unpaid taxes pick up a penalty and interest starting February 1. The penalty rises each month to 12% on July 1, and interest adds 1% a month on top. On July 1, a collection penalty may also be added if your taxing unit has hired a collection attorney and adopted the penalty. It can't be more than 20% of the tax, penalty and interest.

Any time after the taxes become delinquent, the taxing unit can sue to foreclose its tax lien. For land outside a city that has sat abandoned for a year or more, with five straight years of unpaid taxes, a county can instead ask a court for a tax warrant to seize it. Either way, the land can end up at a public tax sale. For land that isn't a homestead and had no ag valuation when the lawsuit was filed, the former owner has 180 days after the buyer's deed is recorded to buy it back, and any money left over after the sale can be claimed within two years of the sale. Our guide walks through each step.

Inherited land

If you inherited land, the title company will want to see how ownership passed to you. Texas law offers a few ways to show it. A probate attorney or title company can tell you which one fits your family.

• Affidavit of heirship: a sworn statement about the family tree, signed in front of a notary and recorded in the county deed records. Once it has been on record five years, Texas law treats it as evidence of who the heirs are. Ask the title company whether it will accept one for your sale.
• Court heirship proceeding: when there's no will, a court can declare who the heirs are and what share each one owns.
• Muniment of title: usually when there's a will and the estate owes no debts other than ones secured by real estate, a court can admit the will to probate this simpler way, without a full estate administration. A will generally has to be offered for probate within four years after the death.
• Small estate affidavit: only for estates with no will and assets of $75,000 or less, not counting the homestead. It generally can't pass title to land that wasn't the homestead, so it usually won't work for vacant land.

Compliance notes for sellers

Texas has a rule for people who put land under contract and then sell that contract to someone else. A contract to buy land is called an "equitable interest." Anyone who sells or assigns one without a real estate license must tell the seller and the buyer about it in writing. We don't do that. We buy the land ourselves, for our own account, so that rule doesn't come into play with us.

Texas has no state personal income tax. The state constitution forbids one. So there's no state income tax to hold back from your proceeds at closing. Federal tax rules still apply to a land sale, so ask a CPA about your own situation.

How a sale with us works

We make a fair, no-obligation cash offer. There are no realtors, no repairs, and no waiting on a buyer's financing. There are no agents, no fees and no showings. We pay all the closing costs, we handle the paperwork, and you just sign. You pick the closing date that works for you.

We buy the land ourselves and later resell it. We're not agents or brokers, and we don't sell or assign contracts.

Counties we're buying in

Right now we're making offers on land in Montgomery County.

Common questions

Keep reading

• Unpaid taxes in Texas
• How to sell your land
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Last updated October 6, 2026