This page is general information about Texas law and Lubbock offices. It is not legal or tax advice.
Electrum Properties is not a law firm and does not practice law. Talk to a Texas real estate attorney and a CPA about your own facts before you sign.
Material interest: we buy houses in Lubbock for cash, including houses in the situations described here. That is our business — read this page knowing it.
We sometimes assign a purchase contract to another buyer; if that is our intent on your deal, we tell you in writing (Tex. Occ. Code Sec. 1101.0045). Jarrod Frankum holds a Texas real estate license, but we buy for ourselves — we aren’t acting as your real estate agent.
Last reviewed: September 2026
The short answer
You can sell a Lubbock house after you have already left. Nothing in Texas law requires you to live in the property, or be in Texas, to sell it. What changes is everything around the sale: your homestead exemption, the grass, the tax bill, and how many months you carry two housing payments.
First, the Lubbock thing that trips people up
In most Texas counties you pay property taxes to the county tax assessor-collector. Not here. Lubbock County’s Property Tax Collections page says “LCAD provides the property assessed value, issues the annual property tax bills, receives payments for property taxes, processes Homestead Exemptions, and considers protests and appeals.” The Comptroller’s county directory agrees: the county Tax Assessor-Collector “does not collect property taxes.”
So the change of address that matters goes to the Lubbock Central Appraisal District — P.O. Box 10542, Lubbock, TX 79408-0542, 806-762-5000, chief appraiser Tim Radloff. The county tax office (Ronnie Keister, 916 Main Street, Suite 102, 806-775-1344) handles vehicle registration and titles instead.
What Texas law says when you move out of your own house
Your homestead exemption turns on one condition
Tex. Tax Code Sec. 11.13(l) says a qualified residential structure “does not lose its character as a residence homestead when the owner who qualifies for the exemption temporarily stops occupying it as a principal residence if that owner does not establish a different principal residence” and the absence is either “for a period of less than two years and the owner intends to return and occupy the structure as the owner’s principal residence,” or is caused by the owner’s military service “as a member of the armed forces of the United States or of this state,” or by residency in a facility that provides services related to health, infirmity, or aging.
Read that twice: the protection runs only while you have not established a different principal residence, military service included, and the two-year branch needs both halves.
When entitlement ends the duty is yours. For an exemption “that is not required to be claimed annually,” Sec. 11.43(g) says a person “shall notify the appraisal office in writing before May 1 after his entitlement to the exemption ends,” and Sec. 11.43(i) lets a chief appraiser add back value “erroneously allowed in any one of the five preceding years.” Ask LCAD which applies to you.
Nobody prorates your taxes for you
Texas bills for the whole year. Sec. 31.01(a): bills go out “by October 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable.” Sec. 31.02(a): taxes are “delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the year following the year in which imposed,” subject to that section’s exceptions. Your split with the buyer is a contract term on the closing statement. Already behind? See selling when you’re behind on Lubbock property taxes.
If someone offers to “just take over the payments”
Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 5.016 covers conveying residential property “that will be encumbered by a recorded lien at the time the interest is conveyed,” and requires a separate 12-point disclosure to the buyer and every lienholder seven days out. Part of the warning it dictates: “IF A LIEN IS NOT RELEASED AND THE PROPERTY IS CONVEYED WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE LIENHOLDER, IT IS POSSIBLE THE LIENHOLDER COULD DEMAND FULL PAYMENT OF THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE OF THE LIEN IMMEDIATELY.” Have an attorney read any such deal. When we buy, we close through a title company and the loan is paid off.
If you have orders
Reese Air Force Base closed on September 30, 1997. Nobody PCSes to Lubbock anymore. If you own here and you have orders, you are leaving, on somebody else’s calendar.
SCRA does not get you out of a mortgage. The lease-termination right at 50 U.S.C. Sec. 3955 belongs to the lessee. Sec. 3953 makes a sale or foreclosure invalid if made “during, or within one year after, the period of the servicemember’s military service” — but it “applies only to an obligation … that originated before the period of the servicemember’s military service,” and it excepts a court order granted beforehand with a return made and approved, or an agreement under Sec. 3918. Texas also waives penalty and interest on delinquent property taxes for a service member transferred out of state (Tex. Tax Code Sec. 31.02(b)–(f)). Neither sells your house.
VA loan: assumption versus a clean payoff
VA’s Buyer’s Guide says “anyone, even a non-Veteran, can assume your loan, but in such case your entitlement remains with the loan,” and assumption “requires servicer approval, and in some instances VA approval.” Entitlement is restored when the home is sold and the loan repaid in full, or when another qualified Veteran assumes and substitutes their own. A non-veteran assumption leaves your entitlement tied up here.
Only owned it 14 months? Ask about the partial exclusion
IRS Publication 523 describes a partial exclusion for people who miss the full eligibility test, including anyone who “took or were transferred to a new job in a work location at least 50 miles farther from the home than your old work location.” Service members can also suspend the five-year test period during qualified official extended duty, though “the period of suspension can’t last more than 10 years.” Take Pub 523 to a CPA. We do not compute anyone’s tax.
What your empty Lubbock house does while you’re gone
The grass goes first. City of Lubbock Code Enforcement covers “uncultivated vegetation on private property and adjacent public property that has grown to a height over 8 inches,” and describes what follows: “Property owners are notified by regular mail and by a posting placed on the property. Properties that remain in violation at re-inspection are put on mowers lists that are issued to private contractors for abatement.”
From out of state, that notice goes to an address that may still be the house you left, and the posting goes on a door you aren’t at. Then a contractor mows it and bills you. Code Administration, 1314 Avenue K, 806-775-2193.
Before the truck leaves, stop water, wastewater, storm water and solid waste through City of Lubbock Utilities, 1401 Avenue K, 806-775-2509 — its site has a “Help me move (start/stop services)” path. Electric in the city limits is Lubbock Power & Light, and if you hold a retail provider contract, ending it early is its own line item. Ask your agent about your policy’s vacancy provision. More: selling a vacant house in Lubbock.
When a cash offer is NOT your best move
Your employer is buying the house. Relocation packages at Texas Tech, TTUHSC, the hospital systems and the corporate tenants at Reese vary enormously; some include a guaranteed buyout at an appraised value. That can beat any cash offer, ours included. Get the policy in writing from HR first.
The house is sound and your start date is far enough out. Nothing deferred, roof fine, three or four months of runway — listing will usually net you more than a cash offer. That is just true. Our comparison of listing versus a cash sale lays out the trade. Price the wait with your own numbers, not the invented ranges other relocation pages publish: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, utility minimums, lawn care, HOA dues. That is one month of waiting.
You actually want to be a landlord. Then hold it, with your eyes open. You would be a landlord several states away, and the remedy when it fails is an eviction in the justice precinct where the house sits — all four courts are in the Lubbock County Courthouse at 904 Broadway. If your tenant is a service member, Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 92.017 lets them vacate and avoid future rent liability on permanent-change-of-station orders or orders to deploy “for a period of 90 days or more,” on written notice with a copy of the orders. A landlord who violates it owes actual damages, one month’s rent plus $500, and attorney’s fees. JP Precinct 1 publishes a servicemember affidavit with its eviction packet. Already renting and it went sideways? That is a different page.
How selling to Electrum works from out of town
We have bought houses in Lubbock since 2019 and are BBB accredited with an A+ rating.
| Step | What happens | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Send the address | We look at the house, the county records and the street. Older blocks inside Loop 289 price differently from the newer additions past Milwaukee. | Ten minutes on the phone. |
| 2. One walkthrough | We look at it as it sits. No cleaning, no repairs, no clear-out. | Nothing, if you’re gone. A lockbox works. |
| 3. A written offer | Cash, as-is, in writing, so you can hold it against your relocation package. | Show your CPA. |
| 4. Title company closing | A Lubbock title company handles the file, the payoff and the prorations. | Sign. Ask about closing remotely. |
We cover all closing costs on purchase. No commissions, no repair credits. You pick the closing date. When speed matters we can close in as little as 7 days on the right deal. Also read your options for selling a house fast in Lubbock and how we buy houses. We buy in Wolfforth, Slaton, Shallowater and Idalou too.
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Relocation questions we get from Lubbock sellers
Can I sell and close if I’ve already moved out of state?
Yes. Nothing in Texas law requires a seller to live in the property or be in the state. Sec. 5.008(d) lets you complete the Seller’s Disclosure Notice to the best of your belief and knowledge, marking unknowns as unknown. Texas has allowed online notarization since 2018 (Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 406, Subch. C), but your title company decides whether to use it.
Do I lose my homestead exemption if I move for a job?
Possibly. The trigger is establishing a new principal residence, not the move. Sec. 11.13(l) protects a temporary absence only “if that owner does not establish a different principal residence,” and then only when it is under two years with an intent to return, or is caused by military service or a health, infirmity or aging facility stay.
I got transferred after 14 months. Do I owe capital gains?
Possibly less than you expect. IRS Publication 523 describes a partial exclusion where you “took or were transferred to a new job in a work location at least 50 miles farther from the home than your old work location.” It counts if that is true of your spouse or a co-owner. Take it to a CPA.
VA loan and PCS orders — assume it, or sell?
Depends on whether you want your entitlement back. VA’s Buyer’s Guide says “anyone, even a non-Veteran, can assume your loan, but in such case your entitlement remains with the loan.” Entitlement is restored when the home is sold and the loan repaid in full, or when another qualified Veteran substitutes their own. Ask your servicer and VA.
Tell us the address and the date you need to be gone
That is the whole conversation. If your relocation package or a listing beats our number, take it — we will tell you so ourselves. Call 806-630-0875, or use the form above and read what other Lubbock sellers have said. Neighbor leaving too? Our referral program pays $500 per closed deal.