Selling a House in Allen, TX? Start Here

One county, three offices: taxes and deeds in Allen

Allen had about 113,746 residents in 2024, by the Census Bureau's estimate, and the whole city lies in Collin County. That keeps a sale simple: one appraisal district, one county tax office and one county clerk.

• Value and exemptions. The Collin Central Appraisal District at 250 Eldorado Pkwy. in McKinney sets the value on an Allen house and handles homestead exemptions. A value protest is filed with the Collin Appraisal Review Board, a separate panel from the district, and that board hears it.
• Who collects the tax. The district's taxing entity table lists the Collin County Tax Office as the collector for the City of Allen and for Allen ISD. The Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector mails statements in October, and paying by January 31 avoids penalties. If an older year may still be open, ask the office for a payoff figure before you pick a closing date.
• Recording the deed. Deeds, releases of lien and other land records go to the Collin County Clerk's land recordings office at 2300 Bloomdale Rd. in McKinney.

Ending Allen water and trash service

The City of Allen supplies water and trash and recycling service, billed through its Citizen Self Service portal. The city's start, transfer or cancel page has three rules worth knowing before you hand over the keys:

• Service must be ended through the portal, and only people authorized on the account may end it. If the account is in the name of a parent who has passed away, talk to Utility Billing before you plan around a shutoff date.
• For residents moving within Allen, the page says the trash and recycling carts must stay at the original house, and a fee for each missing cart is charged to the final bill.
• When a closed account leaves a final balance unpaid, the city reports the debt to credit reporting agencies, and the page warns this can affect a credit rating for up to seven years.

Set the cancel date for the day you move out or the day you sign, whichever comes later, so the house still has water for the final walk-through.

What Allen code compliance looks for

Allen's Code Compliance division, at City Hall, 305 Century Parkway, works from the city's Code of Ordinances. Its page says it does not handle interior inspections or landlord and tenant disputes, so most cases on a house for sale start with something you can see from the street:

• Grass or weeds taller than 12 inches, including the strip between the sidewalk and the curb.
• Furniture, appliances, boxes or building materials left where the street or alley can see them.
• Substandard structures under Sec. 6-86 of the Property Maintenance Code: siding pulling away, foundation failure, bad roofs, windows or doors, or illegal plumbing.
• Damaged sidewalks. Owners must keep the sidewalk in front of the house repaired.

Help exists for owners who live in the house. The city splits sidewalk repairs 50/50 with qualifying owner-occupants, or 75/25 for those who meet low-to-moderate income criteria; rental properties are not eligible. Its Home Repair Assistance Programs pay for urgent repairs, accessibility work and exterior fixes tied to code violations for owner-occupants under the income limits. Staff take calls at 214-509-4183. If you would rather skip repairs before selling, read our page on selling a house that needs repairs.

Clearing out the house: garage sale and bulky pickup rules

If you are clearing out years of belongings, perhaps after a parent moved into care, the same code page has two rules that help you plan the cleanout:

• Garage sales. No permit is needed, but a home gets two sales in a one-year period, and each sale must end within three days (72 hours). You may post three signs, one at the house and two offsite, none larger than 2 square feet and none in medians or parkways.
• Bulky items. To schedule a pickup of trash, bulky items or yard waste, the page says to call CWD at 972.392.9300.

Things piled in the driveway while you sort can draw an open-storage complaint, so keep them in the garage until pickup day. Our vacant house checklist covers the rest of a move-out.

Foreclosure notices, probate and free legal help

Behind on the mortgage. Texas trustee sales happen between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, and the notice must be posted at the courthouse and filed with the county clerk at least 21 days ahead (Property Code 51.002). Collin County collects posted notices in a foreclosure notice search you can filter to Allen. A listing there means a sale date is set. Our guide to selling to stop a foreclosure walks through what people do before that date.

Settling an estate. Probate is opened in the county where the person who died lived (Estates Code 33.001). For a longtime Allen resident, that points to the Collin County Probate Court in McKinney, whose probate FAQ says an attorney is required whenever someone must be approved to run the estate. If your parent had moved to a care home in another county, ask a Texas probate attorney where the case belongs.

Free legal help. Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas serves Collin County from its McKinney office at 901 N. McDonald St., taking applications by phone at 972-542-9405 on weekdays. It also holds a walk-in evening clinic in Allen at First United Methodist Church, 601 S. Greenville Ave., covering wills and estates, landlord and tenant problems and real property matters. Check its page for the next date.

Selling your Allen house to Cash Home Advisors

You can sell as-is, without making repairs first. We pay all closing costs. We can close in 7–14 days. Se habla español.

Start by asking for an offer, or read how it works first. If the house came to you through an estate, our inherited house guide is a good next step.

Local offices for this area

• Collin Central Appraisal District
• Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector: Property Taxes
• Collin County Clerk: Land Recordings
• City of Allen Code Compliance
• City of Allen: Start, Transfer or Cancel City Utilities
• Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, McKinney office

ZIP codes we buy in: 75002, 75013