Selling Your House Without a Realtor in DFW: Local Steps

Planning to sell a Fort Worth, Dallas or suburban house on your own? The state rules for doing it are in our Texas guide to selling without a Realtor. This page covers what changes once you are in North Texas: which county office holds your deed, where your tax and value records live, what Fort Worth allows for a yard sign, and how DFW subdivisions handle HOA paperwork.

Start with your recorded deed

The TREC contract asks for the lot, block, addition, city and county in paragraph 2A, or an attached exhibit with the full description. That language comes from your deed, not your street address. Every DFW county clerk puts its official records online, so you can pull a copy at home:

• Tarrant County: Official Records Search at tarrant.tx.publicsearch.us. In person, the Records Filing Office is at the Tarrant County Courthouse, 100 W. Weatherford St., Fort Worth.
• Dallas County: the non-certified Official Public Record Search at dallas.tx.publicsearch.us. The Recording Division is at the Records Building, 500 Elm St., Dallas, and answers at (214) 653-7099.
• Collin County: the "Deed Search" link on the County Clerk page goes to collin.tx.publicsearch.us.
• Denton County: the "Property Records Search" link on the County Clerk page goes to denton.tx.publicsearch.us.

While you are in the records, look for your old loan's release. If a paid-off loan was never released, the title company will need one before closing.

Check your appraisal district and tax accounts

Your appraisal district record is public, so a buyer can read it as easily as you can. Look at it before you set a price or answer questions. Tarrant owners use the TAD property search. Dallas, Collin and Denton owners use DCAD, Collin CAD and Denton CAD. Confirm the owner name matches your deed and note which exemptions are on the account.

Then check the tax side. Under paragraph 9B(1) of the TREC contract, the seller furnishes tax statements or certificates showing no delinquent taxes at closing. The Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector has an online property tax search, and the Dallas County Tax Office and Denton County Tax Office have their own sites. If an old year is unpaid, it comes out of your proceeds, so it is better to know now.

Yard signs in Fort Worth

Fort Worth's zoning ordinance lists a real estate sign among the signs that need no permit, within limits:

• one non-illuminated, temporary sign advertising the sale or lease of the property it stands on;
• no more than 8 square feet in a one- or two-family dwelling district;
• one per street frontage on a corner or through lot; and
• removed within 30 days after the sale or occupancy.

The same ordinance prohibits signs placed in or projecting into the public right-of-way unless an encroachment agreement is in place. It also bans signs on a vehicle or trailer parked mainly to display the sign, and a vehicle left on a site for more than 72 hours straight is treated as evidence of that purpose. Keep the sign on your own lot, not on a parked car or by the curb. In Dallas and the suburbs, read your city's sign rules before you put one out; they are not the same everywhere.

HOA paperwork in DFW subdivisions

If your subdivision has a mandatory owners' association, contact the management company as soon as you have a buyer. Property Code Section 207.003 requires the association to deliver the subdivision documents and a resale certificate by the 10th business day after it receives a proper written request from the owner, the buyer or the title company. The certificate must be prepared no earlier than 60 days before it is delivered, and it covers items such as regular assessments, approved special assessments and any right of first refusal. Without an agent, you are the one who has to chase it.

Picking a title company in the metro

Your title company is the hub of a by-owner closing. If the contract names it as escrow agent, it holds the earnest money, and it prepares the closing statement both sides sign. Pick one with an office convenient to you and your buyer, and call it before you sign the contract so it can open the file the same day.

If you ever record a document yourself in Dallas County, bring ID. The clerk's office says that since July 1, 2023, the law requires a photo ID for any document submitted to it that conveys property from one person to another. Tarrant County's clerk also offers eRecording.

A DFW by-owner checklist

1. Download your recorded deed and copy the legal description exactly.
2. Confirm any old loan shows a recorded release.
3. Review your appraisal district account and your tax office account.
4. Check your city's sign rules before you order a sign.
5. Get your HOA management company's contact details and fee list.
6. Line up a title company and, if your facts are complicated, a real estate attorney.

Skip the listing: selling your DFW house to us

Cash Home Advisors is based in Fort Worth and buys houses across DFW. There is no sign, no showing schedule and no commission negotiation. We pay all closing costs, we can close in 7–14 days, and you see the closing statement before you sign.

Get a free cash offer, see the areas we serve, or visit our Fort Worth and Dallas pages.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. City of Fort Worth, Zoning Ordinance Chapter 6, Article 4 (Signs), Sec. 6.403 and 6.405
2. Tarrant County Clerk, Real estate records
3. Dallas County Clerk, Recording Division
4. Collin County Clerk
5. Denton County Clerk, Recording Division
6. Tarrant Appraisal District
7. Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector
8. Texas Property Code, Chapter 207 (Sec. 207.003 resale certificates)
9. Texas Real Estate Commission, Resale contract TREC No. 20-19 (paragraphs 2A, 9B and 12A)

General information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to a Texas attorney or CPA about your situation.

Related guides

• How Long Does It Take to Sell a House in DFW?
• How Many Showings to Sell a House in DFW? Reading the Metro Data
• How Soon Can You Sell After Buying in DFW? Dates and Records to Check