# How to Use Distress Scores to Find Motivated Sellers in Texas
Every distressed property is not equally distressed. A homeowner who missed one tax payment six months ago is in a very different situation than someone who is three years delinquent, facing foreclosure, and has an auction date next month.
The challenge for real estate investors has always been sorting the mildly distressed from the deeply motivated. Cold calling every tax delinquent property in Harris County — all 87,715 of them — is not a strategy. It is a waste of time.
That is why Texas Signals built the Distress Score — a 1 to 100 rating system that quantifies seller motivation so you can focus your time and marketing dollars on the properties most likely to convert.
What Is a Distress Score?
A Distress Score is a numerical rating from 1 (minimal distress) to 100 (extreme distress) assigned to every property in the Texas Signals database. The score is calculated using multiple data points that correlate with seller motivation.
Think of it as a prioritization tool. Instead of treating all 344,995 tax delinquent properties the same, you can filter for scores above 70 and work a list of the most motivated sellers first.
How the Distress Score Is Calculated
The score incorporates several weighted factors:
Financial Distress Indicators
•Years of tax delinquency — The longer someone has been behind, the more motivated they typically are. Properties 3+ years delinquent score significantly higher.
•Amount owed vs. property value — When back taxes represent a large percentage of property value, the owner has less incentive to hold on.
•Equity position — High-equity owners who are tax delinquent are paradoxically great leads. They have value to unlock but are not managing the asset.
•Loan-to-value ratio — For pre-foreclosures, how underwater the owner is directly correlates with motivation.
Legal and Timeline Indicators
•Proximity to auction date — A pre-foreclosure property with an auction date 30 days away scores much higher than one six months out.
•Multiple filings — Properties with repeated Notices of Default indicate chronic financial stress.
•Duration in pre-foreclosure — The longer a property has been in the pre-foreclosure pipeline, the more likely the owner is to accept a discounted offer.
Property and Market Indicators
•Vacancy signals — Properties showing signs of vacancy (utility disconnections, mail forwarding) indicate an owner who has already mentally moved on.
•Code violations — Active code violations add legal pressure on top of financial pressure.
•Market position — Properties in appreciating markets with high distress scores represent the best opportunities because the ARV supports strong margins.
How to Use Distress Scores in Your Investing
Strategy 1: The Top 10% Filter
The simplest approach — filter for properties with a Distress Score of 80 or above. These are the most motivated sellers in any given market. In a county with 10,000 distressed properties, this narrows your working list to about 1,000 high-priority leads.
Best for: Investors who want to maximize conversion rate per contact attempt. If you are cold calling, every call to a high-distress owner is more likely to result in a conversation about selling.
Strategy 2: The Sweet Spot (50-79)
Properties in the 50-79 range are distressed enough to be motivated but often have not been contacted by as many investors. The top-scoring properties get the most mail and calls. The middle tier is where you find less competition.
Best for: Direct mail campaigns where you want a larger list but still want reasonable response rates. These owners are feeling pressure but have not been bombarded with offers yet.
Strategy 3: Trending Scores
Some Texas Signals users track how a property's distress score changes over time. A property that went from 40 to 65 in the last 90 days indicates a situation that is getting worse — and an owner who may be newly motivated.
Best for: Patient investors who want to time their outreach for maximum impact. Reaching out right when financial pressure intensifies dramatically improves response rates.
Strategy 4: Score + Equity Stacking
Combine a high distress score with a high equity percentage. This finds owners who are both motivated AND have room to sell below market value. A property scored at 85 with 60% equity is a wholesaler's dream — the owner wants out and can afford to give you a deal.
Best for: Wholesalers who need margin for assignment fees. High distress plus high equity equals the widest spread between your purchase price and the property's value.
Real-World Example
Let us say you are wholesaling in Harris County. Without distress scoring, you have 18,386 pre-foreclosures and 87,715 tax delinquent properties to sort through — over 106,000 leads with no prioritization.
With distress scoring:
1.Filter for scores 75+ — Your list drops to a manageable few thousand
2.Stack with equity 40%+ — Now you have a refined list of high-motivation, high-equity properties
3.Sort by auction date — Prioritize the most time-sensitive opportunities
4.Export and skip trace — Get phone numbers and start calling
You have gone from 106,000 overwhelming records to a focused, actionable list in minutes.
What a High Distress Score Does NOT Mean
Important caveats:
•A high score does not guarantee a deal. Some owners are motivated but have unrealistic price expectations. Some are in litigation. Some simply will not answer the phone.
•A low score does not mean no deal. Some owners with low distress scores are still willing to sell at a discount for personal reasons — divorce, relocation, inheritance.
•Scores are probabilistic, not deterministic. They increase your odds of finding motivated sellers. They do not eliminate the need for good negotiation skills.
Why Distress Scoring Matters More in 2026
The Texas real estate market in 2026 has unique dynamics:
•Rising property tax assessments are pushing more owners into delinquency
•Interest rate adjustments on ARMs are triggering new pre-foreclosures
•Insurance cost increases are adding financial pressure across coastal and urban markets
These factors are creating a growing pool of distressed properties. Without a scoring system, you are drowning in data. With one, you are surfing it.
Start Using Distress Scores Today
Texas Signals assigns a distress score to every property in its database — across all 344,995 tax delinquent and 44,897 pre-foreclosure properties statewide.
Filter by score, stack with equity and location data, and build targeted lists that convert.
[Start your free trial at texassignals.com/trial](https://texassignals.com/trial) and let the data tell you where to focus.