Selling a Houston House With Back Property Taxes
Delinquent taxes don't stop a sale. They come out of the price at closing — and the sooner it closes, the less they've grown.
Can I sell a house in Texas if I owe back property taxes?
Yes. Unpaid property taxes are a lien on the house, and a lien is a claim that gets paid at closing, not a bar to selling. The title company orders the exact payoff from the tax office, settles it out of the sale proceeds on the closing statement, and the deed passes clean. You don't pay the taxes first, and you don't negotiate with the county yourself. What you do need is a sale price that covers them, which is where the honest part of this page comes in.
Where the money comes from
The back taxes are paid out of the price, not on top of it. If the house is worth more than what's owed on it — taxes, mortgage, anything else recorded — you walk away from closing with the difference. If it isn't, an ordinary sale can't close, and any buyer who tells you otherwise is not telling you the truth. We find out which case yours is early, by starting the title search the day we're engaged, so nobody discovers the answer in closing week. The tax section of our liens page explains the mechanics in more detail.
What happens between falling behind and a tax sale
Unpaid taxes grow — penalties and interest are added on a schedule the taxing units set, and collection attorneys get involved. Eventually the taxing units can sue, and a property can be sold at a public tax sale to satisfy the debt. Harris County publishes those sale listings, which is why a search for this page tends to put you next to one. Where your house sits on that path decides everything about timing, and our Harris County tax-foreclosure guide walks the sequence step by step. If a lawsuit has been filed or a sale date exists, call rather than email; the calendar is in charge.
Call the tax office before you call a buyer
This is the sentence a buyer isn't supposed to write. The Harris County Tax Office can tell you exactly what's owed and what arrangements exist for paying it over time; some owners qualify for a plan that lets them keep the house. If that works for you and you want to stay, it beats selling to us, and we'll say so. If it doesn't — the numbers are too far gone, the house is too much to carry, or you simply want out — that's when a sale makes sense, and knowing the real payoff first makes ours faster and more accurate.
When the taxes are bigger than the house
It happens, especially on inherited houses that sat for years. Then a normal sale can't close, and the realistic options involve the taxing units themselves and often an attorney — negotiated payoffs, plans, or the guide's other exits. We'd rather tell you that in the first week than string you along. Our liens page has the plain version of that math.
What we do
We buy the house as it stands, back taxes and all, and the title company pays the county from the proceeds. The condition changes nothing about whether we're interested; it changes the number. Our contract has no financing contingency, so the closing date isn't waiting on anyone's loan approval, which matters when a tax calendar is running. Send us the tax statements and any letters from the collection attorneys, and we'll build the offer on the real file.
Questions people in this situation ask
Do I have to pay the back taxes before I can sell?
No. They're paid at closing, out of the sale proceeds, by the title company — the same way a mortgage balance is paid off. You need a sale price that covers them, not cash up front.
Will the buyer pay my back taxes?
In the sense that they come out of the closing, yes; in the sense of paying them on top of the price, no — and no buyer does. The taxes are part of what the sale price has to cover. We say that plainly because a seller who understands it can judge an offer correctly.
A lawsuit has been filed, or a tax sale date is set. Is it too late?
Not necessarily, but the calendar now decides what's possible, and a sale has to close before the county's process finishes. Call rather than email, have the paperwork in hand, and talk to an attorney about your rights in the process — that part is legal advice and we don't give it. What we can do is move a purchase as fast as a title company allows.
Behind on property taxes?
Tell us the address. The title company gets the exact payoff from the county.
Find out what we'd pay for your house
Tell us the address and a little about the property. There is no fee, no listing agreement and no obligation to accept anything we offer.