Best Cash Home Buyersin Katy

How much do cash buyers pay in Katy?

One of the three ranked buyers publishes a formula, and none publishes a percentage. American Home Buyer starts from what comparable homes sold for in the last 6 months, subtracts updates and its costs to buy, hold and sell, and then subtracts its profit. Greenlight Offer’s Katy page names after-repair value, repair costs, holding expenses and selling fees as its inputs, and Senna House Buyers quotes from photos. Many investors screen deals with the 70% rule, a formula, not a measured offer.

Compare net to net, never a cash price against a listing net. Texas has no transfer tax, so a cash sale saves the commission, but you may still pay the owner’s title policy and part of the escrow fee, depending on your contract.

• The purchase price and every deduction from it
• Owner’s title policy: the premium is set by the state (about $1,890 at a $325,000 price); your contract decides who pays
• Prorated property taxes: Texas bills taxes in arrears, so the seller credits the buyer for this year’s taxes up to closing, including any utility-district tax
• Who will be on the deed: the company itself, or an end buyer it brings in
• The closing date, and what lets the buyer reprice or walk away

Is your Katy address in the City of Katy?

Often not. The City of Katy describes itself as “the hub of three counties”, Harris, Waller and Fort Bend (City of Katy). About 25,200 people live inside city limits, per the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey (Census Reporter).

Most “Katy, TX” mailing addresses, in ZIP codes 77449, 77450, 77493 and 77494, are outside city limits, in unincorporated Harris or Fort Bend County. ZIP 77449 lies entirely in Harris County, while 77494 lies mostly in Fort Bend County.

The county decides which appraisal district values your home, which county clerk records the deed, and which utility district, if any, taxes it. Check your appraisal-district record before you compare offers, because the county and any utility district change the tax line a buyer will price in. A buyer ranks on this page only if its own site names Katy; a county name or “Greater Houston” alone does not count.

How the Katy market affects a cash sale

We could not read a primary Katy sale-price report, so the figures below are City of Katy survey data or Houston-metro data, each labeled. Each names its source and period, and we never combine two data series in one sentence.

• The median single-family home in Greater Houston sold for $325,000 in September 2026, per the Houston Association of Realtors’ monthly report as reported by My Neighborhood News. That is a metro figure, not Katy’s.
• The median owner-occupied home in the City of Katy was valued at $401,700 in the 2020-2024 Census survey (Census Reporter). That is an owners’ estimate, not a sale price.
• Houston-metro listings spent a median 55 days on market in September 2026, per Realtor.com data.
• All-cash purchases were 38.8% of Houston-metro sales from January to April 2026, up 1.9 points, per Realtor.com.
• ATTOM counted 448 completed foreclosures in the Houston metro in August 2026. We found no Katy count.
• Katy’s housing is young: the median home in the City of Katy was built in 2003, per the same Census survey.
• Owners in the City of Katy paid a median $7,207 in real estate taxes in the same survey.
• Harris County owners paid a median $4,416 in the 2024 one-year Census survey.
• Renters occupy 19.3% of the City of Katy’s occupied homes, per the same 2020-2024 survey (our calculation).

Harvey, the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, and your disclosure form

Since September 1, 2019, the Texas Seller’s Disclosure Notice asks about present flood insurance, previous flooding from a reservoir’s failure, breach or controlled release, and previous water entering the house in a natural flood. It also asks whether the property is wholly or partly in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain, a floodway, a flood pool or a reservoir (HB 3815).

The law defines a flood pool as the land next to a reservoir, above its normal maximum operating level, that is subject to controlled flooding managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a reservoir as a water project the Corps operates. Addicks and Barker, on Katy’s east side, are Corps reservoirs. We found no official list of which Katy subdivisions sit inside either flood pool, so check your own lot.

In December 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled the government liable for damage to homes that flooded upstream of the Addicks and Barker dams during Harvey, as the Texas Tribune reported. The Tribune noted that the government could still seek further review.

If your Katy home sits behind the Barker or Addicks dams, took water in Harvey, or you ever filed a flood claim, the form asks about it, and that applies in an as-is cash sale too. If you have a pending reservoir claim, ask a lawyer how the sale contract treats it before you sign.

MUD taxes, HOAs and the notices a Katy seller owes

Many newer Katy subdivisions outside city limits sit in a municipal utility district (MUD), so the tax bill includes a district rate on top of the county, school and other rates.

• MUD notice: a seller of property in a MUD must give the buyer a written notice before a binding contract, cash sale or not; if it is missing, the buyer may be able to terminate, which a buyer can use to renegotiate late (Water Code 49.452)
• District rates change every year. Cinco Municipal Utility District No. 5, for example, posted a notice of a public hearing on its 2026 tax rate. Get your own district’s adopted rate from its notice or the county tax office; we do not print rates by community.
• HOA resale certificate: in a master-planned community, order it the day you accept an offer. The association has up to 10 business days to deliver it (Property Code 207.003), and any unpaid dues or violation fines come out of your proceeds at closing.
• Your 10% homestead appraisal cap does not pass to a new owner, so a cash buyer prices in next year’s tax at its own value, not your capped value
• Deed fraud: the Harris County Clerk’s free Property Alert System emails you when a document is filed under your name. It is an alert, not a block. We did not check Fort Bend or Waller County clerk programs, so ask your county clerk which applies to you.
• Insurance cost: Houston’s sample homeowners quote on NerdWallet’s Texas page is $9,095 a year, and the page shows no Katy figure. It prices a $500,000 dwelling, so treat it as a sample, not an average.

Is there a transfer tax in Katy, Texas?

No. There is no transfer tax in Katy, in any of its three counties, or anywhere in Texas, and the Texas Constitution bars new ones (art. VIII, §29). If a closing statement shows one, ask what it is.

Does Opendoor buy houses in Katy, TX?

Opendoor lists Katy among the cities on its Houston page, but it has no Katy page of its own, and it lists mobile and manufactured homes as not eligible. Its Houston page says you can close in 21 to 60-plus days.

Offerpad has its own Katy page, which says you can close in as few as 8 business days or take up to 60 days. HomeGo’s Houston office lists Katy among the cities it serves. Sundae and Express Homebuyers list no Texas market, and HomeVestors’ and Joe Homebuyer’s pages blocked our check.

Direct buyer or wholesaler in Katy?

Texas allows wholesaling with a written disclosure: a company that plans to sell its contract on your home must tell you in writing first, as TREC explains.

American Home Buyer says it actually buys and resells the homes it makes offers on, and its FAQ also describes a wholesale option in which an end buyer closes and funds. Greenlight Offer says it uses its own funds and often resells after closing. Senna House Buyers publishes no statement either way. Ask any buyer, in writing, which entity will be on the deed. An offer that leaves your mortgage in your name is not a cash sale; ask a lawyer before signing one.

What other Katy lists leave out

Three things we found on the pages that rank for Katy cash-buyer searches, checked November 2, 2026:

• helloReeve’s Katy list ranks its own Reeve program first with a self-reported rating, and it credits American Home Buyer with about 50-plus Google reviews; Google showed 252 on the day we checked
• Greenlight Offer’s Katy page states a Katy median price and a year-over-year price drop dated May 2025 with no source; we do not repeat it
• None of the top three companies in Google’s local results for “we buy houses katy” or “cash home buyers katy tx” ranks here: each fails one of our gates, is held, or has no website we could check

What the seller owes before closing

A cash buyer can speed up the money, but most Texas disclosure duties still apply in an as-is sale.

• Seller’s Disclosure Notice for a single-family home, including flood and flood-claim questions added in 2019; if it is not delivered, the buyer may terminate within 7 days of getting it (Property Code 5.008). Estate sales by an executor or administrator are exempt.
• Municipal utility district (MUD) and public improvement district (PID) notices where they apply (Water Code 49.452, Property Code 5.014)
• HOA resale certificate within 10 business days of request, for a fee capped at $375 (Property Code 207.003)
• Federal lead paint disclosure for homes built before 1978, including as-is cash sales (EPA)
• If the home is your homestead and you are married, your spouse must sign, even if the house is only in your name (Family Code 5.001)

Do I need a lawyer to sell my house for cash in Texas?

No law requires one. Texas sales usually close at a title company, through a title agent licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance (Insurance Code 2651.001), and you can bring your own attorney, as TDI notes. It is worth hiring one for an estate, a homestead or a contract the buyer wrote.

Sellers have no cooling-off right. The FTC Cooling-Off Rule excludes real estate, and Texas’s home-solicitation law protects people who buy, not homeowners who sell. Once you sign, the contract is your protection.

Foreclosure in Texas moves fast

Most Texas mortgages foreclose without a court. A servicer must give a debtor in default on their residence at least 20 days to cure, then post a notice of sale at least 21 days before the auction, which is held on the first Tuesday of the month (Property Code 51.002). In our reading, a sale can come about six weeks after the default letter, and there is no right to buy the home back after a trustee sale. Home equity loans need a court order to foreclose.

Paid “save your home” consultants must use a written contract with a 14-point notice, cannot charge before finishing the work, and cannot take an interest in your home (Business & Commerce Code ch. 21). Selling your homestead below value and renting it back above fair rent is treated as a loan, and the deed is void (Property Code 41.006).

Property types that change the deal

Heirship, back taxes and manufactured homes shape what a Texas cash buyer will pay and how fast it can close.

• Inherited without probate: you may be able to sell with an affidavit of heirship, a small estate affidavit (intestate estates up to $75,000, excluding the homestead, which passes this way only if it is the only real property) or a will probated as a muniment of title. Every heir usually signs; ask the title company which route it accepts.
• Back taxes: a delinquent tax carries 12% in penalties by July 1 plus interest (Tax Code 33.01). After a tax sale, a homestead can be redeemed for two years at a 25% or 50% premium, and that right cannot be sold (Tax Code 34.21).
• Manufactured homes: check how yours is titled with the state housing agency; a sale of a home still treated as personal property needs a new statement of ownership (Occupations Code 1201.206)
• Tenants: the new owner becomes liable for security deposits (Property Code 92.105), and after a foreclosure a paying tenant is owed at least 30 days’ notice to vacate (Property Code 24.005)
• Homestead: protected from forced sale for most debts (Constitution art. XVI §50); your 10% homestead appraisal cap does not pass to the buyer, so the home’s taxable value can reset to market

Mobile homes and rentals in Katy

About 2.2% of the City of Katy’s housing units are mobile homes, per the 2020-2024 Census survey, with a wide margin of error, and none of the three ranked buyers names them. Greenlight Offer’s Pasadena page says “The only type of property we don’t purchase is mobile homes”, and Opendoor lists them as not eligible.

Rentals are common in the wider Katy area: Greenlight Offer says it buys houses with tenants in place, Senna House Buyers names landlord sales, and American Home Buyer says it “can buy” rentals “even if there are current tenants”.

When a cash sale is the wrong call

A cash sale wins when time, condition or certainty matter more than price, and loses when you can wait. In our worked example, a Katy home worth $325,000 after repairs and needing $40,000 of work (our assumption) nets about $186,100 from a 70%-formula cash offer after about a month, $264,900 from listing as-is at $285,000 after about 3 months, and $260,000 from renovating and selling at $325,000 after about 5 months. There is no transfer tax; each column carries costs of $1,359 a month, and the listing paths also pay a 5.61% commission (Clever survey, August 2026, 41 Texas agents).

That gap of about $78,800 is the price of speed in this example. Where your contract puts the owner’s title policy on you, each column loses about $1,200 to $1,900 more. The $325,000 figure is the Greater Houston single-family median, standing in for after-repair value because we found no primary Katy median; the carrying cost pairs the City of Katy’s median taxes paid, which predate the larger homestead exemption, with a Houston insurance sample for a $500,000 dwelling, so treat the example as a simplification. The calculator above sets the as-is price at 90% of the benchmark and the cash price at 90% of that, so only its repair-and-list figure matches this example.

Cash tends to win for a house that took water in Harvey, has foundation problems, or has a tenant you cannot remove. It tends to lose for a newer, move-in-ready home in a master-planned community with no water history, where a listing often nets more.

Deed fraud in Texas and where to report it

Since December 4, 2025, real property theft and real property fraud are felonies (Penal Code 31.23, 32.60), and anyone recording a deed in person must show photo ID (Property Code 12.001). Since 2025 an owner can record a sworn affidavit against a fake deed (Property Code 5.0206) and, once the affidavit goes unchallenged for 120 days, ask a judge, with no filing fee, to rule that it conveys nothing (Government Code 51.9035).

Many county clerks offer a free email alert when a document is recorded in your name; Harris County runs its own. It is an alert, not a block. The Department of Insurance warns of seller impersonation targeting vacant or unoccupied houses listed for sale.

Report deceptive buyers to the Attorney General at (800) 621-0508 or online, undisclosed wholesaling to TREC at 512-936-3000, title or escrow problems to the Department of Insurance at 800-252-3439, and fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

• A “save your home” company that charges before finishing, takes a power of attorney, or asks for any interest in your home
• Being told to stop talking to your lender or to pay the company instead (Texas AG)
• A buyer that advertises your house to other investors without a written disclosure that it holds only a contract
• An offer that leaves your mortgage in your name, or a rent-back of your homestead at above-market rent
• A tax-sale surplus buyer who calls or knocks, takes an assignment before the 36th day after the money is deposited with the court, or pays less than 80% up front; only a lawyer may charge a fee to recover surplus, capped at the lesser of 25% or $1,000
• A claim that a cash sale nets more than listing; the FTC’s 2022 Opendoor order treated that claim as deceptive when unsupported

Verify any buyer in fifteen minutes

Five quick checks show whether a buyer is who it says it is, and whether it actually closes on homes in its own name.

• Entity: the Secretary of State business search ($1 per search), or the free Comptroller franchise tax status search
• Purchase history: search the company as grantee in the county clerk’s real property records, and as owner on the appraisal district site
• Lawsuits: the district and county clerk case search in the buyer’s county
• Licenses: the TREC license search, to see whether the person across the table is a licensed agent
• Complaints: call the Attorney General’s hotline, and read the company’s BBB file as a pointer, not a verdict