Selling Your Parents' House to Pay for Assisted Living in Dallas-Fort Worth

Assisted living across Dallas-Fort Worth generally runs somewhere between $3,200 and $6,000 a month, with Dallas averaging in the mid-$5,000s and Fort Worth close behind. Memory care costs more — commonly $4,500 to $7,500 or higher, depending on the level of supervision. And the quoted base rate is rarely the real number: care-level fees, medication management, and ancillary services routinely add $500 to $2,000 a month on top of the brochure price.

Social Security and a pension almost never cover that gap. For most DFW families, the parent's house is the only asset large enough to fund years of care, and it has to become cash before it can do that job. Meanwhile the house keeps costing money every month it sits — property taxes, insurance on a now-vacant home (which many carriers surcharge or refuse to renew), utilities, and lawn care.

Matamna Homebuyers buys the house exactly as it is. No repairs, no updates, no staging, no showings, and no cleanout. You get a firm written cash offer, usually within 24 hours, and you choose the closing date — which means you can line the money up against the move-in date instead of hoping a traditional sale closes in time.

This is the question that catches most adult children off guard. If your parent is still competent, they sign the paperwork themselves and you simply help coordinate — that is the simplest path by far, and it is worth acting before capacity becomes an issue.

If your parent can no longer sign, the sale depends on what legal authority exists. A durable power of attorney that specifically grants real property powers is the most common route, and title companies will want to review the actual document — not every POA is written broadly enough to convey real estate. If the home was placed in a revocable living trust, the successor trustee handles the sale under the trust terms. If there is no POA and your parent has lost capacity, a court-appointed guardianship is usually required, which takes time and an attorney.

We work with adult children, agents under power of attorney, successor trustees, and court-appointed guardians regularly, and we coordinate directly with your attorney and the title company so the documents are right the first time. If you are not sure what authority you have, send us what you have and we will tell you honestly whether it is likely to be enough — before you spend money finding out at the closing table.

This is the part almost no one tells families, and it matters enough that we would rather you pause than sell in a hurry. If there is any chance your parent will need Medicaid to help pay for long-term care, talk to a Texas elder law attorney before the house sells — not after.

Here is why. While your parent lives in the home, or is in a facility but intends to return, the homestead is generally an exempt asset for Medicaid purposes, as long as equity stays under the federal limit (which rose to $752,000 for 2026). The moment it sells, that protection ends: the sale proceeds become a countable resource, and Texas Medicaid's countable asset limit is roughly $2,000 for a single applicant. A house that was invisible to Medicaid on Monday can make your parent ineligible on Friday.

A few points worth understanding. Selling at fair market value is not a gift, so it does not trigger a transfer penalty under the 60-month look-back — that rule targets giving assets away or selling them for less than they are worth. Proceeds reinvested into another exempt home within roughly three months can retain their protected status. And after death, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program may seek repayment from the probate estate for long-term care benefits received at age 55 or older, though the home is protected while a spouse, minor child, or disabled child lives there.

None of that means selling is wrong — for families paying privately for assisted living, converting the house to cash is often exactly the right move, and spending those funds on genuine care is a legitimate use. It means the sequence and the timing matter. An elder law attorney can look at your parent's actual situation in an hour and tell you whether to sell now, sell later, or structure it differently. We are home buyers, not attorneys or financial advisors, and we would rather you get that answer first. If you decide to sell, our offer will still be here.

A large share of the families we work with are adult children living in another city or another state, trying to manage a parent's move, a house full of belongings, and a facility deposit from a thousand miles away. Flying back repeatedly to meet contractors, clear the house, and sit through showings is not realistic on top of a job and a family.

You do not need to. We can evaluate the property without you present, send the offer in writing for you and your siblings to review, and handle closing remotely through a reputable local title company — many documents can be signed electronically or with a mobile notary. And you never have to clear the house out: take the photographs, the furniture that matters, and the keepsakes, and leave the rest exactly where it sits. Forty years of accumulated belongings, the garage, the attic, the storage shed — we handle the entire cleanout after closing at no cost to you.