Transactional Funding in Houston

No license needed, provided you meet both of that statute's conditions. That statute lets an unlicensed person acquire an option or an interest in a contract to purchase real property and then sell the option or assign the contract, on two conditions: you don't use the option or contract to engage in real estate brokerage, and you disclose the nature of your equitable interest in writing. Since SB 1577 took effect on January 1, 2024, that written disclosure runs to the seller as well as to the buyer. Failing to disclose as required means you are engaging in real estate brokerage without a license under section 1101.351, and a wilful violation of the chapter is a criminal offense under section 1101.756. Texas has a second disclosure statute that older templates miss: Property Code section 5.0205 requires its own written notice before you enter into the contract to sell an option or assign a purchase contract, telling the potential buyer that you are assigning an interest and do not hold legal title, and telling the property owner that you intend to assign. It is a separate duty from the 1101.0045 disclosure, not the same one restated. We're a lender, not your counsel. Have a Texas real estate attorney review your contract and your disclosure language before you use them.

Two reasons, and neither is a workaround for the disclosure rule. First, plenty of A-side contracts simply bar assignment, including HUD deals, some REO sellers and some builders, so the only way to move the property is to buy it and resell it. Second, a double close keeps the assignment fee and the A-to-B price off the B-to-C settlement statement. Our transactional funding covers that first leg and is repaid out of the simultaneous resale, up to 100% of the purchase price. What a double close does not do is cure a written-disclosure failure under section 1101.0045. We have no authority saying it does, and you should not build a deal on the assumption. Ask your attorney which structure your contract actually supports.

Texas forecloses without going to court, and the sales all land on one day a month. Under Texas Property Code section 51.002, notice of sale has to be given at least 21 days before the sale date, and sales run on the first Tuesday of the month at the county courthouse between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., moving to the first Wednesday when the first Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4. Harris County is a first-Tuesday auction market of real scale, and the short notice period means distressed inventory recycles fast. Practically, the 21-day window is the lead time you get to line up an end buyer and confirm funding against a date that does not move. Bring us the deal inside that window, not the night before.

On execution, because the price is fixed by the state. Texas title insurance rates are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance, so every licensed title company charges the same basic premium. The current table took effect March 1, 2026, and under it a policy above $100,000 runs $780 plus 0.00494 per dollar over $100,000, which works out to roughly $1,274 on a $200,000 policy and about $2,262 on a $400,000 policy. Confirm the exact figure with your title company. Texas also closes through title companies rather than attorneys, so the escrow officer is the single most important vendor on a back-to-back deal. Not every shop will run two closings in a day off the same file. Ask before you go under contract, not the week of your close.

More than the spread on paper suggests. As of mid-2026 the Houston metro was running about 5.2 months of inventory with days on market near 52, and a Q2 2026 median price of $345,200, down 1.2% year over year. If your B-to-C buyer is a flipper, their own exit is slower and thinner than it looks: ATTOM put Houston's typical gross flip margin at 7.2% in the first quarter of 2026, the fifth-smallest among large U.S. metros against a 25.4% national figure. On a double close that risk sits with you, because our funding is repaid from the simultaneous resale. Get the end buyer's proof of funds and their lender's timeline in hand before you commit to a closing date.

Deed restrictions and the floodplain, in that order. Houston is the largest U.S. city with no conventional zoning, so what actually controls what your end buyer can build is the recorded deed restrictions on that lot plus Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances, which sets platting, minimum lot size and building lines. Neighbors can lock a block down through Special Minimum Lot Size and Special Minimum Building Line designations, and those prevail over the citywide minimums, so a townhouse pro forma can die on a title commitment. The second one is Chapter 19: new construction and substantial improvements in the 500-year floodplain must sit 2 feet above the 500-year base flood elevation, and "substantial improvement" includes expanding a footprint by 33% or more. Pull the restrictions and the floodplain determination during your option period. A B-side buyer who finds either one after signing is a buyer who walks.

Usually not. Transactional funding covers up to 100% of the purchase price on the A-to-B leg, and it is repaid out of the B-to-C resale at the simultaneous close. Pricing is a flat fee rather than a rate, so you can put the real number into your spread before you sign anything. Budget your own closing costs and whatever your title company needs to run two closings off one file. Subject to underwriting.

Days, not weeks. This is money for a back-to-back close, not a hold, and it is why the end buyer being ready is the whole risk. There is no credit check and no appraisal on our side, which is what makes it fast. On a Harris County first-Tuesday purchase, line up the B-side buyer and their funding inside the 21-day notice window rather than the week of the sale. Subject to underwriting.