What sells off-market in Dallas County, TX
By Josh MillerUpdated 4 min readExpired and cancelled listings edged out liens on the property in Dallas County, TX: about 12 of every 100 owners whose listing expired or was cancelled sold off-market within 12 months of the filing, against about 1.9 of every 100 houses picked at random in the county. Liens on the property came in at about 10 of every 100 over the same 12 months, close enough that both lists earn a letter.
Dallas County is an off-market county. Nearly half of the home sales recorded there over 12 months never went through an agent's listing. With that many owners selling direct, the question is which list they were on.
Below is every list we could measure in Dallas County, out of about 586,000 single-family homes, with how many owners on each sold off-market and when.
Lists that start with a filing
Foreclosures, expired listings, liens and judgments start on a date: something got filed with the county. Here is how many owners on each list in Dallas County sold off-market afterward, sorted by how many of every 100 sold within 12 months.
| List | Owners on the list | Sold off-market within 3 months | Sold off-market within 12 months | Of every 100, sold within 12 months | Busiest quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expired or cancelled listing | 4,949 | 279 | 577 | 11.7 | Months 1 to 3 |
| Lien filed against the property | 2,383 | 83 | 246 | 10.3 | Months 1 to 3 |
| Judgment against the owner | 2,236 | 13 | 59 | 2.6 | Months 10 to 12 |
Second in Dallas County was liens on the property: about 10 of every 100 sold off-market within 12 months, from a list of 2,383 owners. That's a list worth a place in the mail beside expired and cancelled listings.
Judgments against the owner barely cleared a random house in Dallas County: about 2.6 of every 100 sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.9 of every 100 houses picked at random.
Foreclosure filings aren't in this table: there were too few on record in Dallas County to measure honestly, so we don't publish a number.
Lists that just sit there
Vacant houses, back taxes, equity and owners who live somewhere else don't start on a date. Those owners can sit on a list for years. Read the shaded bottom row first: it's a house picked at random in Dallas County, and a list that can't beat it is buying stamps and nothing else.
| List | Owners on the list | Sold off-market within 12 months | Of every 100, sold within 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behind on taxes, 5 or more years | 9,369 | 616 | 6.6 |
| Behind on taxes, 2 to 4 years | 29,082 | 1,138 | 3.9 |
| Sitting vacant | 7,425 | 271 | 3.6 |
| High equity, living elsewhere | 71,211 | 1,705 | 2.4 |
| Owns it free and clear | 226,537 | 4,845 | 2.1 |
| Owner 65 or older, living elsewhere | 14,598 | 87 | 0.6 |
| Any house, picked at random | 585,771 | 11,331 | 1.9 |
The best of them in Dallas County was owners 5 or more years behind on taxes: about 6.6 of every 100 sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.9 of every 100 houses picked at random.
Owners 65 and older who live elsewhere sold off-market less often than a random house in Dallas County over the same 12 months. That list is buying stamps, not sellers, here.
Equity lists beat a random house in Dallas County, but they are big lists, so a small edge still costs a lot of postage.
When to mail in Dallas County
Go early on expired and cancelled listings and liens on the property. In Dallas County, the first 3 months after the filing were the busiest quarter for each of them: 279 of the 577 off-market sales within 12 months on expired and cancelled listings came in that first stretch.
Stay longer on judgments against the owner. Their busiest quarter in Dallas County was months 10 to 12 after the filing (13, then 16, 13 and 17 sales by quarter), so a single letter in month one misses most of the owners who end up selling.
Whatever the list, take out anyone who already sold or listed the house before every drop.
How we counted
For filings from October 2024 through March 2025, we counted every off-market, arm's-length sale recorded in the county afterward. Counted from the county's own records by FirstPulse, the data engine GoForClose runs on.
Lists that sit there, like vacant houses or back taxes, and the house picked at random are counted over 12 months. Probate and divorce are left out: there are too few on record in most counties to measure honestly.
Nearby counties
- What sells off-market in Harris County, TX: expired and cancelled listings led there.
- What sells off-market in Bexar County, TX: expired and cancelled listings led there.
- Every county page
For the method behind these tables, read which motivated seller lists actually sell, when to mail each list and how the lead services compare.
Questions investors ask about Dallas County
What list sells best in Dallas County?
Of the lists we could measure in Dallas County, TX, expired and cancelled listings sold off-market most often: about 12 of every 100 owners whose listing expired or was cancelled sold within 12 months of the filing, against about 1.9 of every 100 houses picked at random in the county over 12 months.
When should I mail foreclosure filings in Dallas County?
We can't tell you yet. There were too few foreclosure filings on record in Dallas County to measure a window honestly, so we don't publish one. Start with expired and cancelled listings, which we could measure.
Do absentee owners over 65 sell in Dallas County?
Rarely. In Dallas County, TX, about 0.6 of every 100 owners 65 and older who live somewhere else sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.9 of every 100 houses picked at random. That list did worse than mailing the county blind.
Can I see this for my county?
Yes. Any of 563 counties can be read free at goforclose.com/read, counted from that county's own records, with no call needed to see it.