Undivided interest
You own a fraction alongside siblings, cousins, or people you've never met. You can sell your share without their permission — and without a family fight.
Houston & the Texas Gulf Coast
We buy houses with complicated problems.
Including just one heir's share — without needing anyone else to agree.
Inherited property. Probate and heirship. Co-owners who can't agree, or can't be found. Foreclosure, back taxes, liens and judgments. If any of that sounds like your situation, you're in the right place — those are the only kinds of properties we buy.
- Probate real estate
- Inherited property
- Heirship
- Undivided interest
- Tax-delinquent property
- Foreclosure
- Liens & judgments
- Clouded title
- We never ask you for money
- Title company & attorney on every purchase
- No obligation, no pressure
- No minimum — we buy 1% shares
- Texas-based, local to Houston
Did we contact you?
If you've never heard of us, this probably feels strange.
Someone you don't know reaches out about a property — maybe one that's been in your family for years, maybe one you'd rather not think about. You have questions. You might be suspicious. That's a completely reasonable reaction, and we'd rather you check us out than take our word for it.
We found your name through public county records — foreclosure postings, tax rolls, probate filings. That's all public information, and it's the same information anyone can look up. Here's what you should know before we ever talk numbers:
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We will never ask you for money. Ever. Not a fee, not a deposit, not "processing costs," not anything. If anyone claiming to be us asks you for a payment, it isn't us — hang up and call the number on this page.
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Money moves one direction only — to you. We never need your bank details to make an offer, and there is never a point where money is supposed to come from your side. The figure we agree on is the figure you receive — nothing is deducted at closing. How and when it reaches you is written into the offer before you sign: most often the full amount at signing, sometimes structured across signing and closing where a situation is complicated. Either way you have the schedule in writing first.
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A title company and an attorney work every purchase we make. Not as a courtesy — we need a clear title commitment ourselves before we can ever do anything with a property, so getting the paperwork right is our own problem before it's yours. On a partial interest the deed can transfer directly, since title companies generally won't insure a fraction of a property; title and counsel are still working the file either way. If you'd rather a title company run the closing too, say so and we'll arrange it.
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Every deed is notarized and recorded with the county. However a purchase closes, a licensed notary witnesses your signature and the deed is filed in the county's public records — a permanent, public document that you or anyone in your family can look up later. We come to you, whenever suits you, and we pay the notary.
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We answer to a state regulator, and you can look us up. Gulf Alpha is owned by Fredo Hernandez, a licensed Texas real estate broker, TREC license #713703 — searchable by either name or number in the Texas Real Estate Commission's public database. That does not make us your agent — we buy for our own account and you owe us no commission — but it does mean there is a public record of exactly who we are and a regulator we're accountable to. An anonymous cash buyer has neither.
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We'll pay for an hour with your own attorney. Yours, of your choosing, and it's written into our offers — not just said on a call. If you'd rather not go hunting for one, we can point you to a firm that does this work daily, and we'll tell you plainly that we work with them; for anything about whether selling to us is actually a good idea, use your own lawyer and we'll cover it. If they tell you we've got something wrong, you'll have found that out on our money.
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You're under no obligation until you sign. Talk to us, get an offer, take it to a lawyer, sit on it for a month, walk away — none of that costs you anything or commits you to anything, and we impose no deadlines. Once you do sign, it is a binding contract, and we'd rather say so than let you discover it: a signed purchase agreement is enforceable, exactly as it would be with any buyer. That cuts both ways on purpose — it's the same reason we don't walk away from deals we've signed. So read it before you sign, and have your own attorney read it on our money.
Check the number that called you
Our phone numbers
We reach out from several different lines, so the number that showed up on your phone probably isn't the one printed at the top of this page. That's normal, and here's the whole list so you can check it.
To reach us, call or text
713-510-3036This is our main line and it's always monitored. If you're not sure which number called you, or you'd just rather start fresh, use this one.
We may call or text you from
These are the lines we make outgoing calls and texts from. If one of them came up on your phone, it really was us — and you can tap it right here to call straight back. They all ring through to the same place, so whichever number you use, you get us.
If a number that isn't on this list claims to be Gulf Alpha, it isn't us. Please don't send money or share bank details with anyone claiming to be us — we will never ask you for either. Call our main line and we'll tell you straight away whether it was really us.
What we handle
The situations other buyers walk away from
A traditional buyer needs clean title, every owner's signature, and a bank's approval. One missing signature — a cousin nobody can find, a sibling who won't engage — stops a sale dead. Inherited property is where that happens most, and it's what we're built for. More on heir buyouts →
Probate real estate
A house can't be sold until title is properly vested in the heirs. If the estate never went through probate, we've handled that before.
Inherited property
You inherited a property you don't live in, can't maintain, or never wanted. We buy it as-is — no repairs, no cleanout, no realtor.
Foreclosure
A sale date on the calendar doesn't mean it's over. Until the gavel drops there are still options — and the earlier you call, the more of them you have.
Tax-delinquent property
Unpaid taxes compound fast and can end in a tax suit or a county sale. We buy properties with taxes owed and settle them at closing.
Liens & judgments
Contractor liens, HOA claims, court judgments, IRS liens. They cloud the title and stop a normal sale cold. We deal with them as the buyer.
Clouded title
A lien has a price. A cloud has a question — an old deed error, a missing signature, a gap in the chain. It can't be paid off, only cured. We cure it after we buy.
How it works
Three steps, and you can stop at any of them
We reach out, or you call us.
We tell you which property we're calling about and how we found it. You ask whatever you want. Nothing is decided on that call and nothing is signed.
We look into the situation and make an offer.
We research the title, the liens, the taxes, and whatever else is attached to the property — at our expense. Then we tell you what we can pay and explain how we got to that number. Take as long as you need with it. And if we don't think we can make it work, we tell you then — we don't tie your property up and decide later.
You get paid.
A title company and an attorney work every purchase we make — we need clear title ourselves eventually, so the paperwork has to be right. Usually the title company runs the closing. On a partial interest the deed can transfer directly, notarized and recorded with the county just the same. We come to you, and we cover the notary. If anything about the property can't be cleared afterward, that's our problem to solve, not yours.
Common questions
What people ask us first
How did you get my name and information?
From public county records. Foreclosure notices, tax delinquency rolls, and probate filings are all public documents that anyone can look up at the county clerk's office or online. We didn't buy your information from anyone and we don't have access to anything private about you.
Is there any cost to me?
No — and this is the one to be firm about. We don't charge fees, we don't take deposits, and we don't ask for money at any point. There are no realtor commissions either, because there's no realtor involved. If anyone contacts you claiming to be us and asks for a payment, it is not us.
How does the closing actually work, and how do I get paid?
A title company and an attorney are working on every purchase we make. That isn't a favor to you — we need a clear title commitment ourselves before we can do anything with a property later, so we can't afford sloppy paperwork any more than you can. What changes between deals is who actually runs the closing.
Buying a whole property — the usual case. The title company runs the closing: they handle the paperwork, confirm everything is legitimate, and disburse your money. You can call them directly at any point to check anything we've told you.
Buying a partial (undivided) interest — title companies generally won't issue a policy on a fraction of a property, so the deed itself can transfer directly: you sign in front of a notary and are paid at the same moment. Payment can be a cashier's check, a wire, or cash — whichever you'd prefer, just tell us. And if you'd rather the title company run this closing too, ask and we'll arrange it.
Either way a licensed notary witnesses your signature and the deed is recorded in the county's public records, where it stays permanently. We come to you, whenever is easiest, and we pay the notary. You're also welcome to have your own attorney look at anything before you sign — we'd encourage it.
Are you a real estate agent? Are you a law firm?
Gulf Alpha is a real estate investment company. We buy property with our own funds, for our own account. We are not a law firm, we're not attorneys, and we don't give legal advice — when a situation needs a lawyer, we'll say so and you should talk to one.
On the real estate side there's something we'd rather state plainly than have you discover later: Gulf Alpha is owned by Fredo Hernandez, a licensed Texas real estate broker (TREC #713703). Gulf Alpha itself is not a brokerage, and the license does not make us your agent. When we contact you we are acting as a buyer for our own account — we represent ourselves, not you. Talking to us creates no agency relationship, and you owe us no commission or fee of any kind. The license is there so we can pull market data and sell properties we already own.
If what you actually need is someone to put your house on the market, that is a different job and not one we do. We'd tell you to go talk to a listing agent.
What if I decide I don't want to sell?
Before you've signed anything, you simply don't sell. There is nothing to cancel and nothing you owe us. We'd genuinely rather you make the right decision than the fast one — and if that means keeping the house or going another route, we'll point you toward it.
After you sign, it's a contract. A signed purchase agreement binds both sides and is enforceable, the same as it would be with any buyer. We say that plainly because the alternative is you finding out later. It's also why we won't sign one we aren't certain we'll close, and why we'll pay for your attorney to read it first.
The sooner you call, the more options you have
Tax debts grow. Foreclosure dates arrive. A phone call costs you nothing and obligates you to nothing — and it might change what happens next.