I never heard of someone selling half of the house

Yes, it is possible to sell an ownership interest in a property without selling the entire property, but that doesn't mean you should accept an offer of $1,000. If you legally own 50% of the property, the other owners generally cannot sell your 50% without your authorization. They may be able to transfer or sell their own interest, depending on how title is held and the circumstances of the estate, but that is very different from selling the entire property. Before doing anything, I would verify exactly how title is currently vested and whether your father's and brother's estates were properly handled. The deed, probate documents, and current title report are important here. Your brother's four children may have inherited his interest, but the exact ownership percentages should be confirmed from the recorded documents. I would also get an independent opinion of the property's current market value before responding to the $1,000 offer. If you own half of a valuable property, $1,000 could be nowhere close to the economic value of your interest. On the other hand, an undivided interest can sometimes sell for less than a simple 50% of the property's market value because it may be difficult for a buyer to control or sell the property. Don't sign a deed, quitclaim, assignment, or other document just because someone is pressuring you to accept the $1,000. Have a local real estate/probate attorney review the title and inheritance documents and explain exactly what rights you have as a co-owner. You may also have options such as negotiating a buyout with the other owners or agreeing to sell the entire property and divide the proceeds according to everyone's ownership interests. If the co-owners cannot agree, a partition action may be an option in some circumstances, although that's something I'd discuss with an attorney before taking that route. Juan Picos Real Estate Agent JohnHart Real Estate

Yes, it is possible for someone to own and sell an interest in a property without selling the entire house. However, that does **not** necessarily mean you have to sell your half. If you legally own a 50% interest in the property, the other owners may generally be able to sell or transfer their own interest, but they can't simply sell your ownership interest without your authorization. The exact rights depend on how the property is titled and how the ownership was established through your father's and brother's estates. I would be very cautious about accepting a $1,000 offer until you know exactly what your 50% interest is worth. Don't sign a deed, purchase agreement, release, or other document just because someone says you need to respond. Since this involves inherited property and multiple heirs, I'd recommend having a Texas real estate or probate attorney review the deed, probate records, and the offer. They can determine exactly what you own and whether the other heirs have any ability to force a sale or partition the property. If you ultimately want to sell your interest, you should understand the property's full market value first. A $1,000 offer for a 50% ownership interest could be reasonable in some circumstances, but it could also be dramatically below the value of your actual interest. Juan Picos Real Estate Agent JohnHart Real Estate

Mary, Texas is one of the states that adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act, and that single fact is the most valuable thing you can know right now. It means if anyone takes this to court to force a sale, you get a court-supervised first right to buy them out before the house can be sold, at a price set by an appraisal rather than by them. Alla and Byanka both gave you good guidance, and I would follow it: do not sign anything or cash anything, pull the deed history at the county to see what your brother's four kids actually recorded, and get an attorney. Byanka's explanation of how tenancy in common works is right too. What I want to add is the specific Texas law, because it changes your negotiating position substantially and none of the answers above mentions it. It lives in Texas Property Code Chapter 23A, effective September 2017. Here is how it works and why it matters to you. First, whether it applies. Chapter 23A covers what the statute calls heirs' property, which broadly means property held as tenants in common, with no written agreement among all the owners governing partition, where at least one owner got their title from a relative and at least twenty percent of the owners are relatives. Your father's house, passing to you and your brother and then to his four children, fits that description on its face. Second, what it does. If someone files a partition action and the court finds the property is heirs' property, the case has to proceed under Chapter 23A, and the order of operations is what protects you: The court determines the value of the property first, generally by appraisal. Then the court sends notice that any cotenant who did NOT ask for a sale may elect to buy all of the interests of the cotenants who did. You have forty-five days from the date that notice is sent to make that election. Read that again, because it is the whole ballgame: you are not the one asking for a sale, so the buyout right belongs to you, and it is priced off the appraisal. Only if nobody exercises that right does the court reach the question of selling. And if a sale is ordered, the statute says it must be an open-market sale unless the court finds sealed bids or an auction would be more economically advantageous and in the best interest of the owners as a group. On an open-market sale the court appoints a real estate broker who must offer the property in a commercially reasonable manner at a price no lower than the appraised value. So the nightmare scenario, a stranger buying a sliver and flipping the house at a courthouse auction for a fraction of its worth, is exactly what Chapter 23A was written to prevent. Under this statute a forced auction is the fallback, not the default, and you get first crack at buying instead. That is why one thousand dollars is the number they picked. It is not a valuation of your half. It is a bet that you do not know any of the above and will sign to make the phone calls stop. What I would do, in this order: Do not sign, do not accept money, do not agree to anything verbally, including "just so we can send you paperwork." Get a Texas attorney who handles probate and real property. Ask them one question above all others: if an outside investor buys my niblings' interest, does this property still qualify as heirs' property, so that my buyout right survives? I believe it likely does, since you would still hold a half interest inherited from your father, but I could not find a clear authority settling it and it is too important to guess at. That answer determines your leverage. Find out what the whole house is worth. Get an appraisal, or at minimum a written market analysis from a local agent. You cannot judge any offer on a fraction until you know the value of the whole, and under this statute the appraised value is also the number your buyout would be priced at. Consider being the buyer rather than the seller. If the four of them want out, buying their half yourself at a fair price is usually the best outcome for you and it ends the partition threat entirely. Your attorney can tell you how to approach it. Talk to your nieces and nephews directly if you can. Four people who inherited a share of a house are often being worked by the same buyer, may not understand what they signed either, and may just want cash. A family agreement to list the house properly and split the proceeds will almost always net every one of you more than any forced sale would. One honest caveat: I am a real estate professional, not an attorney, and Texas probate and partition procedure is genuinely lawyer territory. Nothing above substitutes for someone licensed in Texas reading your deed and your father's estate file. I work in California, in the South Bay and Palos Verdes part of Los Angeles, so I cannot value the Duncanville property or take this on for you, and you do need local help. If it would be useful, I am glad to tell you what to look for in a Texas agent and what to ask an attorney on the first call, because getting those two calls right is most of the battle. I am Zoltan Peresztegi, and I would not let this one sit. Zoltan

Mary, this is fraudulent. As they say, if it sounds too good to be true.... Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Mary, a $1,000 offer for half of a paid-off house isn't a real offer, it's someone hoping you'll sign without thinking. Investors who buy a fractional share from one heir often turn around and pressure the other owner or ask a court to force a sale, so please don't sign anything or cash any check from them yet. First step I'd take is pulling the deed history for the property at your county recorder to see what your brother's four kids actually signed, if anything was recorded at all. That tells you where you really stand. Then sit down with a real estate attorney licensed in your state, because the rules on co-owned inherited property and forced sales differ quite a bit from one state to the next. I practice in California, so I can't speak to what applies at 75116, and this is worth an hour of a local attorney's time before anyone talks price. Alla Novytska, Realtor®, JohnHart Real Estate, DRE #02254775

It is legally possible for co-owners to sell their fractional ownership share without your knowledge or consent. Under California real estate law, co-owners of an inherited property hold title as "tenants in common," meaning each party owns an undivided fractional interest. This status grants your brother’s heirs the legal right to transfer, sell, or mortgage their 50% interest to an outside buyer. However, selling a 50% partial share on the open market only transfers their half of the title; it does not transfer your half, nor does it give anyone the right to strip you of your ownership.  The offer of $1,000 for your half of the home is almost certainly a predatory lowball attempt to exploit the situation. Real estate investors often purchase fractional interests at a massive discount from co-owners who want quick cash. Once an investor acquires that partial share, their typical strategy is to pressure the remaining owner, in this case, you -into selling their portion cheaply or to file a court lawsuit known as a "partition action" to force a sale of the entire property. Under California's Partition of Real Property Act, you have explicit legal protections against these tactics, including mandatory fair-market appraisals and a statutory right of first refusal to buy out the other half at fair market value before any forced sale can occur.  Do not sign any documentation, deeds, or agreements, and refrain from accepting any money from the party contacting you. Instead, request written proof of what your brother’s heirs actually signed or transferred, check the local county recorder’s office to see if a deed has officially been recorded, and consult with a California real estate attorney to safeguard your equity and explore your buyout options. Have you checked the county public records to verify if a deed transfer was officially recorded, or received any formal legal notices yet?