Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

What you need is a contract that sets out what you are buying, title insurance, and a lawyer to walk you through the transaction. If the deal is as simple as you indicate, the legal fee should be a few hundred dollars and the title costs the same, some of which your seller might pay. Absent this how can you possibly know that you're getting a clear title, as the mortgage may not be the only matter encumbering the property (think past due property taxes)? Or are you just going to trust the seller, who apparently is in such financial straits that he must sell his property for just what's owed on it?