How to Find Houston Foreclosure Listings

According to Texas law, a bank may foreclose and sell real estate when the home owner with a mortgage defaults on the mortgage payments. Of course, these laws apply to Houston and Harris County foreclosures. Finding Houston foreclosure listings is fairly simple. For starters, banks must publish their Houston bank foreclosures in a place accessible to the public. Second, some websites also offer the opportunity to learn about foreclosure auctions and additional properties owned by banks that are listed on the open market. Prospective buyers may also check out Houston foreclosure listings of properties sold by HUD.

Houston Listings for Pre-Foreclosure Properties

Banks and other lenders must first conduct a foreclosure sale before they can completely take over ownership of a home in default. The lender must advertise the Houston bank foreclosures based on Texas law. The foreclosure laws in Texas generally break foreclosures down by county. In this case, that would be Harris County, which is the home of Houston.

In Texas, a lender must post a foreclosure listing at the county courthouse. Thus, in this case, you can simply go to the Harris County courthouse and look around or ask the county court clerk's office where to find Houston foreclosure listings. Just make sure you get the hang of the timing of these notices at the Harris County courthouse. While Texas foreclosure notices must appear to the public at least 21 days before the foreclosure sale, you may need to check on a regular basis to make sure you catch all of the Houston foreclosure listings for bank foreclosures. You can also ask the county clerk for a list of upcoming auctions.

Listings for Bank-Owned Foreclosed Properties

After a bank runs an auction in Houston, it sometimes becomes the owner of that property because it placed the highest bid. These Houston bank foreclosures are sold to the public through normal agency sales on the open market. These Houston-area properties do not necessarily offer the potential for great house deals as the auctions do. However, you can speak to the agent selling the Houston bank foreclosure to inspect the property. Thus, there is less downside risk of buying a house with problems.

To find Houston foreclosure listings of these bank-owned properties, you can use one of several online services. Foreclosure.com provides this service for a fee. RealtyTrac.com also provides this listing service. You can also search in a search engine for "free Houston bank foreclosures" or similar search terms to find free options. However, note that free sites that list Houston foreclosure listings don't tend to be as reliable as the paid services.

Listings for HUD-Owned Houston Foreclosures

Like the banks, HUD sometimes buys Houston foreclosed properties at auction. They then turn around and sell these properties. Some of the free and paid listing services do include these Houston HUD foreclosures. However, HUD provides a way to find all Houston foreclosure listings for HUD properties. Go to HUD's Texas page at Hudhomestore.com/HudHome/Index.aspx. Click on Texas on the map to get the full foreclosure listings for Texas. You can then run a more refined search to find Houston foreclosure listings of HUD properties for sale.

Sources:

Foreclosure.com: Texas Foreclosure Laws