How to find motivated sellers in Dallas Fort Worth: four counties, counted
By Josh MillerUpdated 5 min readAcross Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties, expired and cancelled listings sold best, at 8 to 12 of every 100 owners off-market within 12 months. Liens split the metro: about 10 per 100 sold in Dallas County but about 4 in Collin and Denton, so the same list can be worth mailing on one side of a county line and not the other.
Dallas Fort Worth sits across four big counties, and investors tend to mail all of it the same way. The county records say that's a mistake. The same list sold at very different rates depending on which side of a county line the house sat.
The four counties, side by side
| List | Dallas | Tarrant | Collin | Denton |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listing expired or cancelled | 11.7 | 11.0 | 9.2 | 8.0 |
| Lien filed against the property | 10.3 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Behind on taxes, 5 or more years | 6.6 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.3 |
| Divorce filed | 6.1 | too few | too few | 4.0 |
| Sitting vacant | 3.6 | 2.5 | too few | 2.8 |
| Owns it free and clear | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Owner 65+, living elsewhere | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Any house in the county | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
Source: GoForClose count of off-market, arm's-length deeds in county records. Lists that sit there (taxes, vacant, free and clear, 65+) are counted over the same 12 months. "Too few" means too few sales from that list to read honestly. Foreclosure filings weren't measurable in these four counties.
What the table says
- Expired listings lead everywhere. 8 to 12 of every 100 sold off-market within a year in all four counties. In Dallas County, about 6 of every 100 sold in the first 3 months, so the early letters count.
- Liens are a Dallas County list. About 10 of every 100 owners with a lien filed sold off-market within a year in Dallas County. In Collin, about 4. Same metro, same list, less than half the result.
- Dallas County sells more off-market, period. About 1.9 off-market sales per 100 homes a year, against about 1.3 in the other three. About 45 of every 100 sales in Dallas County went without an MLS listing.
- Owners over 65 living elsewhere are a weak list in all four. Under 1 of every 100 sold off-market in a year, below a house picked at random.
What that means for your mail
If you mail DFW as one market, you pay the same for a lien letter in Collin County as in Dallas County, and get less than half the sellers for it. Split your lists by county. Put your first dollars on expired listings everywhere and liens in Dallas County, and test the rest small.
Timing matters too. In all four counties, expired listings sold front-loaded: they were furthest ahead of a random house in the first 3 months after the listing died. Mail them early. See the selling window for each list in your county.
Texas rules to know
Texas foreclosure sales happen on the first Tuesday of the month, with notice filed at the county clerk at least 21 days before (Texas Property Code 51.002). And since 2017, Texas has required anyone selling an interest in a purchase contract to tell the buyer in writing that that's what they're selling (Occupations Code 1101.0045). Check current Texas Real Estate Commission guidance before you market a contract.
Read your county
Read Dallas County, or read any county free: every home, the new filings, and which lists actually sold there.
Questions investors ask
What is the best list for motivated sellers in Dallas?
In Dallas County records, expired and cancelled listings sold best, about 12 of every 100 off-market within 12 months, followed by liens filed against the property at about 10 per 100. Owners 5 or more years behind on taxes came next at about 7.
How many houses sell off-market in Dallas County?
About 11,300 off-market, arm's-length sales over 12 months out of about 25,300 sales in all, about 45 of every 100. That's about 1.9 off-market sales per 100 homes, one of the highest rates among the large counties we measured.
Is Fort Worth or Dallas better for wholesaling?
By the county records, Dallas County had more off-market sales per home: about 1.9 per 100 homes over 12 months against about 1.3 in Tarrant County. Expired listings sold at similar rates in both; liens sold at about 10 per 100 in Dallas County against about 5 in Tarrant.
Do I need a license to wholesale in Texas?
Texas lets you sell your interest in a purchase contract without a license if you don't use it to broker and you disclose in writing to the buyer that you're selling a contract interest (Occupations Code 1101.0045). Check current Texas Real Estate Commission guidance before you market a contract.