Inherited Land Never Put in Our Name: A Contract for Deed Story

The family had two lots of inherited land outside Alvarado that had been theirs for as long as anyone could remember. Granddad bought them on a contract for deed and nobody ever put the land in their name. They knew that, and it was the reason they had never done anything with the inherited land.

I’m Raul Bolufe. My company buys inherited houses and land across Texas, and this is the one where the paper trail ran back to the 1850s. If you are searching something like “inherited land never put in our name,” this is that story. I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. It is what happened.

“Not really worried about that little bit of property”

Here is how the family described it to us. They were, in their own words, real poor people. Granddad had told Dad that he was not really worried about that little bit of property. So nobody worried about it. The inherited land sat, the taxes fell behind, and the people who inherited it figured there was nothing to be done because there was nothing on paper.

They were half right. There was plenty on paper. It just was not in their name.

What a contract for deed leaves behind

Decades ago the land was sold on a contract for deed. That is a deal where you pay the seller over time and you are supposed to get the deed at the end, once you have paid it off.

The paying happened. The deed did not. Nobody ever signed the land over and recorded it at the courthouse. So on the county’s books, the land still belonged to the man who had sold it a long time ago, and the man who bought it and paid on it never showed up as the owner at all.

When he passed, his family inherited his side of that contract for deed. What they did not inherit was a clean record showing any of it. That is the whole problem in one sentence. We see inherited land on a contract for deed more than you would think out in the country.

The first title company said no

We made the heirs an offer for their interest in both lots. My partner on this deal and I took the file to a title company. The title company looked at the chain and refused to insure it.

That is usually where a contract for deed deal dies. A family gets told the title is no good, they hear the word no, and the inherited land goes back to sitting.

We did not take the no. We went into Johnson County’s public records search ourselves and started pulling deeds, one link at a time, backward. The chain ran into the 1850s. One of the oldest documents in it was an old school deed. We found the probate file on the man who had sold the land, and the county sold us a copy for four dollars.

Four dollars. A four dollar probate file did more work on this deal than the first title company did.

With the full chain in hand, we took the contract for deed file to a second title company. They reviewed it and agreed to close as soon as a survey was done.

The judgments sitting on inherited land never put in our name

Contract for deed land rarely comes with just one problem. Once title was moving, two judgments showed up that had to be paid off before closing.

One of them was from a credit card company. It came out of a department called “deceased customers collections.” I did not know that department existed before this deal. Somewhere there is an office whose entire job is collecting from people who have passed away, and one of their files was sitting on two lots in Johnson County.

The law firm that had been handling that judgment was not handling it anymore, so first we had to find out who could even give us a payoff number. Then we sent an email and negotiated. Then we paid it at closing.

This is the part I want every family to hear. Once you sell to us, that judgment is not your problem anymore. We do not hand it back to you. We find the right person, we call, we negotiate, and we pay it. Liens are a normal Tuesday for my team.

The taxes were higher than we thought

Two lots means two tax bills. When the closing statement came, the taxes were higher than we had figured going in. That came out of our side. The family was not asked to cover it.

I bring it up because you should expect it. When inherited land has been sitting for years, the tax number you see online is not always the tax number that shows up at closing. We price for that. If we get it wrong, that is on us, not on you.

How it ended

The survey got done. The second title company closed it. The deal funded on October 21, 2025. The heirs were paid for their interest. Two lots that had been in the family for decades with nobody’s name on them finally had a clean deed, and the family had money instead of a tax bill.

What this means for you

If your family paid for land on a contract for deed and never got the deed, you are not out of luck. You are out of paperwork. Those are different problems.
A title company saying no is not the end. It is one company’s opinion of one file. We have switched title companies more than once.
Old judgments against the person who died can show up on the land. They are negotiable, and we negotiate them. You do not write that check.
Expect the taxes at closing to be higher than the number you saw online. We plan for it.
Do not let “granddad never worried about it” turn into “so we will not either.” The inherited land is worth something. Somebody should get paid for it, and it may as well be the family.

The short version

Two lots outside Alvarado, in the family for decades, never deeded to them. Bought on a contract for deed that was never finished.
First title company refused. We pulled the chain back to the 1850s from the county’s public search, bought the probate file for four dollars, and switched title companies.
Two judgments, including a credit card company’s judgment against the deceased, negotiated and paid at closing.
Taxes came in higher than expected. We covered it.
Closed and funded October 21, 2025.

If you inherited land that was never put in your family’s name, call or text me at 936-380-6384, or fill out the form. Tell me the county, the road, and who passed away. I will tell you whether the contract for deed paperwork can be fixed, and usually it can. If you only own a piece of it, here is how selling your share of inherited land or a house works.

About the author

Raul Bolufe has bought and sold real estate since 2012, closed more than 800 deals, and paid more than 100 heirs for their share of inherited property across Texas and Florida. He hosts the Flipping Miami Podcast. More at raulbolufe.com.

Granddad Bought Two Lots on a Contract for Deed. The Inherited Land Never Made It to Their Name.