I've Watched Hundreds of Texas Real Estate Deals Go Wrong. Here's What I Learned.
Most of what you read about Texas real estate comes from people trying to sell you something — a listing, a loan, a "guru" course. I'm coming at this from the other side of the table.
I'm a litigation attorney based in San Antonio. My caseload is real estate disputes, construction defect claims, business litigation between contractors, subs, and vendors, and insurance defense cases. In plain terms: when a Texas real estate deal blows up, there's a decent chance someone like me is the one cleaning it up.
That's a unpopular vantage point, but it's a useful one for investors, landlords, contractors, and developers who'd rather not become one of my case files.
What this blog is.
This is not a newsletter about market timing or cap rates. Plenty of people already do that well. This is a record of the patterns I actually see in litigation — the contract clauses that get skipped, the inspection shortcuts that turn into six-figure disputes, the insurance gaps nobody notices until there's a claim. I'll write about what I'm currently seeing in Texas courts and construction sites, translated into plain language, with an eye toward "here's how you avoid being the cautionary tale."
What you can expect.
Breakdowns of real (anonymized) disputes and what triggered them
Contract and due-diligence traps specific to Texas property law
Construction defect issues, from foundation problems to punch-list disputes
Insurance coverage gaps that surface after it's too late to fix them
Occasional plain-English explainers on Texas statutes that actually affect your deals (DTPA, Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code, Prompt Payment Act, etc.)
What this blog is not.
It's not legal advice for your specific situation — nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship, and Texas facts are fact-specific enough that generic advice can do real harm. Think of this as the "how deals actually break" field notes, so you know when it's time to call a lawyer before the deal breaks instead of after.
If you're actively buying, holding, or building in Texas, I'd rather you learn these lessons from a blog post than from a lawsuit with your name on it. Let's get into it.
