Selling a House in Grapevine, Texas

Closing out a Grapevine utility account

In Grapevine the city runs the utility account itself. According to the city's Utility Billing FAQ, a residential account covers water, sewer, refuse collection and storm water drainage, so the bill you close out when you sell includes your trash service. Missed pickups go to Republic Services at 817.332.7301, per the same FAQ.

• Stopping service: the city's Apply for New Service page lists a Disconnection of Service form. Pick a stop date on or after closing day so the buyer can still run the taps at the final walk-through.
• In person: the Utility Billing Office is on the first floor of City Hall, 200 S. Main St., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Past-due bills: payment is due 20 days from the postmark on the bill. A late bill draws a penalty of 10% of the total, no less than $3. If it is still unpaid at the next billing, the city mails a cutoff notice, and service is discontinued if the bill is not paid within 10 days of that notice.

If you are behind, call Utility Billing before you list and ask what balance keeps the account open through closing.

Which county offices handle a Grapevine address

The Census Bureau's 2024 estimate puts Grapevine at 51,320 residents (city and town population totals). Nearly all of them live in Tarrant County. The Census also counts two small parts of the city, each with fewer than 100 residents, in Dallas County and Denton County. Your appraisal notice or tax statement names the district that values your parcel. If it came from Dallas or Denton, that county's offices handle your address instead of the Tarrant offices below.

• Appraisal: the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) sets the value and accepts homestead exemption filings; a value protest is filed with its Appraisal Review Board. The small pieces outside Tarrant County fall to the Dallas Central Appraisal District or the Denton Central Appraisal District.
• Tax bills: the Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector collects for many local governments, but its list of entities it collects for does not include the City of Grapevine or Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. Your statement shows who bills those two. The county's property tax FAQ adds that taxes go delinquent on February 1 and that not receiving a statement does not erase the tax, penalty or interest.
• Deeds: the Tarrant County Clerk records deeds at the Records Filing Office, Room B20, Tarrant County Courthouse, 100 W. Weatherford St., Fort Worth. Recording costs $20 for the first page and $4 for each page after that.

Grapevine code rules for empty and rented houses

Grapevine's Code Enforcement FAQ covers two rules that matter when a house sits empty or changes hands.

• No short-term rentals. The city defines a short-term rental as renting all or part of a dwelling for less than 30 days, and it says STRs are expressly forbidden in Grapevine. If you want rent coming in while you sell, the lease has to run more than 30 consecutive days. Renting out only the pool, backyard or a detached building counts as an STR too.
• Grass and weeds. On developed residential lots, grass and weeds may not average more than six inches tall between the property line and the curb, or within ten feet beyond the property line. Line up mowing before you move out.

Code Enforcement answers at 817.410.3159. If a notice arrives, ask the office what is open on the property and what it takes to close the case before you sign a sales contract.

Thinking of repairing instead? The 6 Stones program

Some owners sell because exterior repairs feel out of reach. Grapevine has partnered with 6 Stones on its Community Powered Revitalization (CPR) program, which sends corporate and community volunteers to make exterior repairs for qualified homeowners (city announcement). The applicant must be 62 or older, handicapped or disabled, a veteran or a veteran's spouse, or a single head of household with children under 18 living at home. Income limits apply, and the applicant must have lived in the home for two years. Ask the city whether applications are open.

Foreclosure notices and estates

Foreclosure. Texas Property Code section 51.002 gives a homeowner in default on a home loan at least 20 days to cure before a notice of sale can go out, and the notice must be given at least 21 days before the sale. Sales take place on the first Tuesday of the month. For Tarrant County property, the County Clerk foreclosure page says the sale is held at the base of the courthouse steps on the west side of 100 West Weatherford Street in downtown Fort Worth. The clerk does not publish a list; notices can be viewed on the county's Official Record Search, and each month's file is destroyed the day after the sale.

If a sale date is on your notice, talk with a HUD-approved housing counselor or a Texas real estate attorney now. Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas has a Fort Worth office at 600 East Weatherford St. (817-336-3943). See selling before a foreclosure sale.

Estates. Under Estates Code section 33.001, a will is probated in the county where the person who died lived, not where the house sits. When that person lived in Tarrant County, the case goes to one of the county's statutory probate courts, Probate Court No. 1 or Probate Court No. 2 (Tarrant County probate courts). See selling an inherited house in Texas.

Selling your Grapevine house to Cash Home Advisors

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

See how the process works, read our notes on selling a vacant house in DFW, or send us your Grapevine address.

Local offices for this area

• Tarrant Appraisal District
• Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector: property tax
• Tarrant County Clerk: real estate records
• City of Grapevine: Utility Billing FAQ
• City of Grapevine: Code Enforcement FAQ
• Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas: office locations

ZIP codes we buy in: 76051