Waco, TX
We buy houses in Waco — cash offers for McLennan County.
A 1920s bungalow in Castle Heights bought at peak 2021 pricing on the bet Fixer Upper tourism would never end. A Baylor-area duplex held by heirs in Houston who have not been to Waco since the funeral. A South Waco brick ranch with a McLennan CAD revaluation that doubled the tax bill. A roof claim the carrier denied after the April supercell. These are the situations we built Diamond to handle, here in Waco and across McLennan County.
Who we buy from in Waco
The seven situations driving most Waco cash sales
Waco is not a templated DFW small-town market. It is a real city of roughly 146,000 people sitting at the Brazos / Bosque confluence on I-35 between Dallas and Austin — county seat of McLennan, anchored by Baylor's ~20,600 students, the Magnolia / Fixer Upper enterprise, and a housing stock that runs from 1920s bungalows around Baylor to mid-century ranches in Lake Air to post-1953-tornado rebuilds downtown. The Magnolia tourism boom that roughly doubled Waco home values from 2015 to 2024 is plateauing — and that creates a specific kind of seller the conventional MLS process is not designed for.
Post-Magnolia short-term-rental cashouts
The 2015-2022 Fixer Upper-driven STR boom brought thousands of investor-owners into Castle Heights, Sanger Heights, Dean Highland, and Brook Oaks at premium 2018-2022 prices on 1920s-1940s bungalows. As STR demand has plateaued and the McLennan CAD has revalued upward, carrying cost plus deferred maintenance on century-old stock has flipped the math for many. They want a clean exit.
Inherited Baylor-adjacent 1920s housing
The 76706, 76707, and 76708 ZIPs around Baylor and downtown contain hundreds of pre-1940 bungalows that have been used as student rentals for decades. Heirs from Baylor's national alumni base — in Dallas, Houston, or out of state — do not want to manage a 100-year-old rental two hours from where they live.
McLennan property-tax pressure
Combined county-plus-city-plus-Waco ISD effective rates run roughly 2.5 to 2.8 percent annually — among the more painful loads in Texas. Post-Magnolia revaluations pushed senior and modest-income owners into catch-up risk; one missed payment can compound fast.
Retiree downsizing from mid-century stock
McLennan County's age 65+ share runs ~15 percent — modestly above the Texas average. Mid-century ranches in Lake Air, Wooded Crest, and Mountainview with deferred maintenance and rising tax bills do not fit a fixed-income retirement. We buy as-is so the seller does not fund repairs they will never live in.
Storm-damaged roofs and insurance disputes
McLennan averages 1-2 tornadoes per year and routine 1.5"–3" hail across the March-June severe-weather peak. The 1953 F5 tornado that killed 114 still anchors the local memory; the April 2026 supercell dropped softball hail in the region. Denied claims and partial settlements are recurring distress.
Mobile and manufactured homes
Roughly 5 percent of McLennan County housing is mobile or manufactured, concentrated on rural acreage in China Spring, Axtell, Riesel, Mart, Moody, and Bruceville-Eddy. Conventional lenders rarely touch these. We buy singles and doubles, with or without the land.
East Waco (76704) chronic-distress inventory
The historically Black neighborhood east of the Brazos has long-standing concentrated vacancy, tax-delinquency, and aging-out ownership. Conventional MLS rarely produces clean fast closes here. We buy what is there.
Waco housing market
What your Waco home is actually worth right now
Sources do not perfectly agree, because "median value," "median list," and "median sale" measure different things on different schedules — and Waco's mix of 1920s bungalows, 1950s-70s ranches, post-2015 STR conversions, and 2020s new construction in Hewitt and Woodway produces an unusually wide distribution. Here is what we see across the public data, all sourced and dated so you can verify before deciding.
- Median home value (city, 2023 ACS)
- $192,400
- Zillow ZHVI (mid-2025)
- $215K–$230K
- Median list price (Waco metro)
- $285,000
- Median days on market
- 55–75
- Owner-occupied (city)
- ~46%
- Combined effective tax rate
- 2.5%–2.8%
Census ACS 5-year basis.
Roughly double 2015 levels of ~$110K.
Realtor.com, mid-2025.
Redfin / Rocket, mid-2025.
Unusually low for TX — Baylor student cohort.
County + Waco city + Waco ISD; among the highest in TX.
The defining force in the current Waco comp set is what locally gets called the Magnolia effect. Chip and Joanna Gaines opened Magnolia Market at the Silos in 2015; Fixer Upper ran on HGTV from 2013 to 2018 and returned on the Magnolia Network in 2021. Annual tourism grew from under 1 million visitors to 2.5+ million by 2018-2019, and short-term-rental inventory in central Waco rose five-fold from 2015 to 2020. Median home values roughly doubled from 2015 to 2024 with the steepest moves in the 76707, 76710, and 76706 ZIPs. The 2023-2025 cooling has been real — Redfin shows a year-over-year decline — and the McLennan CAD revaluations that priced in the boom have not eased. That gap between peak-2022 acquisition prices and softer 2025 demand is where many of our conversations start.
If you are facing foreclosure
How Texas non-judicial foreclosure works in McLennan County
Texas is the fastest foreclosure state in the country. If you have received a Notice of Default or Notice of Sale, the law gives you a specific, short window to act.
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Total minimum timeline
Texas non-judicial foreclosure can complete in as few as 41 days from the first Notice of Default. That includes a 20-day right-to-reinstate period and a 21-day Notice of Sale.
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First Tuesday of the month
Foreclosure sales in McLennan County are held the first Tuesday of every month, between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., at the McLennan County Courthouse — the historic 1902 building at 501 Washington Avenue, Waco, TX 76701 — at the specific location designated by the Commissioners Court.
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Posted three places
Texas law requires the Notice of Sale to be posted on the courthouse door, filed with the McLennan County Clerk at 214 N. 4th Street, and published online. If your property has been posted, that record is public.
A cash buyer can close before a posted sale date if the contract is signed with enough runway for the title work. If your auction date is less than 14 days out, call before you fill out a form — the timeline matters more than the offer details. You can also reach our team about pre-foreclosure options through our broader situations page.
Inherited a Waco home?
How McLennan County probate works — and the four Texas paths you may qualify for
Probate is filed with the McLennan County Clerk's Office at 214 N. 4th Street, Waco, TX 76701, and heard by County Court at Law #1 or #2 (McLennan does not have a dedicated statutory probate court). Depending on the size of the estate, whether there is a valid will, and the nature of the property, you may qualify for a path faster than full dependent administration.
Independent Administration
Texas's default when there is a valid will. Court-supervised but with minimal ongoing court intervention — executors can sell real estate without additional court orders in most cases. The most common path we close on.
Muniment of Title
A Texas-specific shortcut when the only transfer needed is real property and the estate has no significant debt beyond the homestead. Faster, cheaper, no full administration.
Affidavit of Heirship
Widely used in McLennan to clear title to real property when full probate is impractical — common for old family homes in East Waco and South Waco where ownership has passed informally across generations.
Small Estate Affidavits (estates under $75K personal property plus the homestead, no will) are also available. We are not your attorney, and this is not legal advice. Texas probate has real teeth and the right path depends on the will, the heirs, and the estate's debts. If you do not have counsel, we can refer you to a McLennan County probate attorney who works with out-of-state heirs.
Where we buy
The neighborhoods and McLennan County communities we cover
Waco's ZIP map covers 76701, 76704, 76705, 76706, 76707, 76708, 76710, 76711, 76712, and 76798 (Baylor). Inside the city we look at every named historic neighborhood; outside the city we drive to the surrounding McLennan communities and the rural ag-land split-offs along the Hill, Bosque, Limestone, and Falls county lines.
Historic Waco neighborhoods
- Castle Heights — early-1900s streetcar suburb west of downtown; 1910s-1930s craftsman bungalows, prairie-style, tudor-revival. Highest density of post-Magnolia STR conversions.
- Sanger Heights — National Register Historic District adjoining Castle Heights; 1910s-1940s stock with the same renovation pressure.
- Dean Highland — north-of-downtown historic district; 1910s-1940s smaller homes; significant Fixer Upper footprint.
- Brook Oaks — historic Black middle-class neighborhood north of downtown; pre-WWII and mid-century stock; Magnolia spillover gentrification pressure.
- Mountainview — west-side mid-century neighborhood; 1940s-1960s ranches; renovation creep.
- Lake Air — central-west, 1950s-70s ranch/contemporary; aging cohort, classic downsizing market.
- Cameron Park / Wooded Crest — near Cameron Park's 416 acres; mid-century custom homes.
- Hillcrest / Landon Branch — west-side mid-century housing.
- University area (76706, around Baylor) — predominantly rental/student housing, 1920s-1940s bungalow stock converted to multi-tenant.
- East Waco (76704) — historically Black community, oldest stock in the city, major redevelopment focus.
- South Waco (76706, 76711) — predominantly Hispanic, working-class, 1940s-70s mix. Sacred Heart Parish at 2621 Gorman Ave is the Spanish-language community anchor.
Surrounding McLennan County communities
We also buy in these surrounding cities, towns, and unincorporated communities:
Woodway · Hewitt · Robinson · Lorena · Bellmead · Beverly Hills · Lacy-Lakeview · China Spring · West · Mart · Riesel · Crawford · McGregor · Moody · Bruceville-Eddy · Axtell · Elm Mott · Hallsburg · Speegleville · Gholson · Ross.
McLennan County is bordered by Bosque to the northwest, Hill to the north, Limestone to the east, Falls to the southeast, Bell to the south, and Coryell to the southwest. We work in all of them and routinely close on rural acreage parcels that straddle the county lines.
We also buy newer-subdivision stock in Badger Ranch, Park Meadows, The Reserves at Westgate, and Twin Rivers — the Hewitt/Woodway growth tracts built 2000s-2020s.
Any condition
The conditions other buyers will not touch
Waco's century-old bungalow stock around Baylor, post-Magnolia STR conversions with deferred maintenance, mid-century downsize inventory, and McLennan revaluation tax pressure combine to produce a steady supply of houses the conventional MLS process is not built for. We underwrite to the work, not around it.
1920s bungalows with century-old systems
Knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized plumbing, asbestos siding, single-pane windows. Castle Heights and Sanger Heights specialty.
Post-Magnolia STR exits
Tired short-term-rental operators who paid peak prices on 2018-2022 acquisitions and want a clean close, no staging.
Hail and storm damage
Denied or partial roof claims, hail-tagged structures, post-supercell rural homes the insurer will not fully fund.
Foundation issues
Central TX clay soil; pier-and-beam on bungalow stock; slab cracks in 1950s-70s ranches.
Hoarder houses
Take what you want; leave the rest. We handle the cleanout. No photos required; no public listing.
Tax-delinquent
Paid at closing out of proceeds. Combined effective rate 2.5%+; you do not need to catch the bill up before talking to us.
Tenant-occupied / Baylor student rentals
Lease in place; student-occupied; seasonal turnover. We close around the academic calendar.
Mobile and manufactured
~5% of McLennan stock; rural China Spring, Axtell, Riesel, Mart, Moody, Bruceville-Eddy.
Probate-pending and Affidavit of Heirship
We can sign in advance and close once the McLennan County Court at Law grants the order.
How it works in Waco
From your first call to a closed deal in McLennan County
Diamond comes to Waco. We do not charge for the trip, we do not assign your contract to another buyer, and we close at a Waco-area title company on the timeline you pick.
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Tell us about the property
Address, situation, timeline. Form on this page or a phone call — both reach the same person. We do not pass leads to anyone else.
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We pull the comps, drive the property if appropriate
McLennan CAD records, ZIP-specific comparable sales (a Castle Heights bungalow is not a Hewitt new-build), and a real walkthrough — not a Zillow estimate.
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Written offer with the math shown
Comparable sales, our repair budget at investor-retail rates, and the margin we need. Take it to an agent and a contractor and compare. The offer does not change after inspection.
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Close at title in 9 days, or whenever you pick
Texas standard purchase agreement. Title company opens escrow. Tax arrears, liens, mobile-home titles, and probate orders handled at the closing table. You get a wire or a check.
Diamond's broader process is documented on the how it works page, and our typical answers to seller questions live in the FAQ.
Waco FAQ
The questions McLennan County sellers ask first
How fast can you close on a Waco home?
Nine days from a signed contract is normal once the title company at McLennan County has clear title. We can close faster when the seller is ready. There is no financing contingency on our side, so the timeline is set by title work, not a lender.
Do you buy 1920s bungalows near Baylor?
Yes. The 76706, 76707, and 76708 ZIPs around Baylor and downtown contain hundreds of pre-1940 bungalow, prairie-style, and tudor-revival homes — many in Castle Heights, Sanger Heights, Dean Highland, and Brook Oaks. Substantial portions were converted to student rentals decades ago and have deferred maintenance no conventional buyer wants to underwrite. We buy them as-is, with century-old wiring and plumbing intact.
I bought my home as a Magnolia-era short-term rental and it is not cash-flowing anymore. Can you buy it?
Yes — this is one of the most common Waco situations we see. The 2015-2022 Fixer Upper-driven STR boom in Castle Heights, Sanger Heights, Dean Highland, and Brook Oaks brought thousands of investor-owners into the market who paid premium 2018-2022 prices for 1920s-1940s bungalows. As STR demand has plateaued post-2022 and McLennan CAD revaluations have pushed property taxes up, the carrying-cost math has flipped for many of these owners. We close fast, no staging, no public listing.
What if I am behind on McLennan County property taxes?
Combined county-plus-city-plus-Waco ISD effective tax rates land at roughly 2.5 to 2.8 percent of assessed value annually — one of the more painful tax loads in Texas, and a particular bite after the Magnolia-era CAD revaluations. We routinely pay tax arrears at closing out of the proceeds. You do not need to bring money to the table or catch the bill up before talking to us.
I inherited a Waco home and live out of state. Can you still buy it?
Yes. Baylor's national alumni base means many Waco-area homes pass to heirs in Dallas, Houston, or further. The McLennan County Clerk at 214 N. 4th Street handles probate filings; County Court at Law #1 and #2 hear probate matters. We work with Independent Administration, Muniment of Title, Affidavits of Heirship, and Small Estate Affidavits, and coordinate signatures across multiple heirs in different states.
Do you buy storm-damaged homes?
Yes. McLennan County averages one to two tornadoes per year and routine March-June hail, and the 1953 F5 tornado that killed 114 people remains the defining storm in Texas history. The ALICO Building survived; much of downtown did not, and a generation of 1954-1965 rebuild stock is now 60-70 years old with original systems. Denied or partial roof claims, hail-tagged structures, and ceilings with water staining are exactly what we underwrite to.
Where is the McLennan County Courthouse, and why does it matter?
The historic 1902 McLennan County Courthouse is at 501 Washington Avenue in downtown Waco. Foreclosure auctions happen there the first Tuesday of every month between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the location designated by the Commissioners Court. If you have received a posted Notice of Sale, that is where it would happen — and that is the timeline we work backwards from.
Do you buy in Hewitt, Woodway, Robinson, Bellmead, West, McGregor, and China Spring?
Yes. We buy across the entire McLennan County footprint and into adjacent counties — including Lorena, Mart, Riesel, Crawford, Moody, Axtell, Bruceville-Eddy, Beverly Hills, and Lacy-Lakeview — plus rural acreage between Waco and the Hill County / Bosque County lines. Diamond comes to you; we do not charge for the trip.
Do you buy mobile homes in rural McLennan County?
Yes. Roughly 5 percent of McLennan County housing is mobile or manufactured, concentrated in China Spring, Axtell, Riesel, Mart, Moody, and the Bruceville-Eddy area. Conventional lenders rarely touch these. We buy singles and doubles, with or without the land, including older units on rural parcels.
Ready for a written cash offer?
Tell us about your property — we will come back with a fair, no-obligation offer in 24 hours.