Probate in Cameron County runs through the county courts at law in the Judicial Building at 974 E. Harrison Street in Brownsville, and state law also gives the county its own statutory probate court. A simple estate with a will can move in a matter of months. The hard part here is the estates that never got opened. Texas generally won't admit a will to probate more than four years after death unless the applicant shows they weren't at fault, so an old estate often turns into an heirship, with every heir needing to sign.

Contract for deed is the issue that separates this county from almost anywhere else we work. Many colonia lots and older rural houses were sold on an executory contract, sometimes handwritten, with the seller keeping legal title until the last payment. Texas law now says the seller must file the contract of record within 30 days, gives the buyer the right to convert to legal title by paying off or signing a note, and requires a 30-day notice to cure before a seller can forfeit. On these leads you need to know who actually holds title before anything else.

Mortgage foreclosure is non-judicial. A homeowner gets at least 20 days to cure, then the notice of sale has to be posted, filed with the County Clerk and mailed at least 21 days ahead. Cameron County holds the sale on the first Tuesday of the month between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the west side of the Cameron County Courthouse in Brownsville, unless the Commissioners Court designates another spot. There is no redemption after a mortgage sale. A seller three weeks out needs a closing date, not a promise.

Tax sales are slower and messier. Cameron County's redeemable deed sales have recently been run online through the county treasurer's office. A homestead or agricultural owner can buy the property back for two years after the deed is filed of record, at a 25% premium in year one and 50% in year two; other property gets 180 days. That right of redemption can't be sold to you, either. If a tax-delinquent owner wants out, buying the house from them before the sale is the clean path.

Condition depends on where you are. Near the coast, ask about wind coverage, who carries it, and whether any Dolly or Hanna repairs have a WPI-8. In Brownsville and San Benito, older houses tend to have additions built over the years, and in the colonias you are often buying a lot with a house the family built in stages. Price your rehab off what is actually there, and confirm water, sewer and access before you count on a resale.

A call we hear a version of often: a woman in Houston says her late father bought a lot outside Los Fresnos in the 1990s on a contract for deed, paid it off, and built the house himself. He died without a will. Her brother still lives there, her sister wants to sell, and nobody knows whether the original seller ever signed a deed. Our note tells you who the heirs are, who lives in the house, what paperwork the family has in hand, the number they would take, and whether everyone is on board.