Probate real estate, explained
Probate is a Process: It matters who you trust.
Guy Courtney helps executors, heirs, and trustees sell inherited properties across Greater Houston, from Cypress to Katy, Spring, and Sugar Land. One agent who has walked this road himself, guiding you through the legal steps and the sale with plain language and patience.
Serving Cypress, Katy, Spring, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and all of Greater Houston
Meet your agent
Who Am I?
Guy Courtney Steib
US Army Veteran - Husband - Father -Grandfather
Licensed REALTOR, CPRES, CPE
- Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist (CPRES)
- Certified Probate Expert (CPE)
I serve my clients with Experience, Expertise & Empathy
When someone passes away, the home they owned becomes part of their estate, and transferring that home to the next owner usually runs through the county probate court of the county where they lived. Probate is the court-supervised process of settling an estate: validating the will, appointing the person in charge, paying the estate's debts, and passing what remains to the heirs. When the estate includes a house, someone with legal authority has to decide what happens to it, and that is the moment most families need an agent who knows the process.
Most of the work is not paperwork for its own sake. It is keeping the home safe and insured, pricing it honestly, and selling it well while the estate moves through the court. A probate real estate specialist handles the sale side and coordinates with the executor, the estate's attorney, and the title company so nothing stalls.
No. 01
Executor
The person named in the will and appointed by the court to run the estate.
No. 02
Heir or beneficiary
Whoever inherits the home under the will or, without a will, under Texas intestate law.
No. 03
Administrator
The person the court appoints to run the estate when there is no valid will.
No. 04
Trustee
The person who holds and manages the home when it was owned by a trust.
How Guy helps
The process, carried for you
Every estate is different, but the shape of a probate sale is the same. Here is how Guy walks it with you, from the first call to the executor's deed.
The first conversation
A free, no-pressure call about the house, the estate, and where things stand. You talk about what you need; Guy listens first. If a sale is not right for you, he says so.
Partner with the estate
Guy coordinates with the executor and the family’s probate attorney, and with title, so the authority to sell, the letters, and the deed are handled in the right order.
Prepare and market the home
A dated or vacant house needs an honest eye: pricing, cleaning, light repairs, and staging that respect the home without over-investing in it. Then a real marketing plan for the Houston market.
Close with confidence
The sale closes with an executor’s deed, the mortgage and estate expenses are settled from proceeds, and whatever remains moves to the estate for the heirs, per the will or the court.
“I have been an executor and closed an estate myself. I know what this season asks of you, and I show up for it.”
Guy Courtney Steib · The Probate Guy
County by county
Probate is handled by county in Texas
The estate opens in the county where the person lived, and each county's probate court runs its own docket and paperwork. Guy works across the counties that make up Greater Houston, so the courthouse where your case lives is one he knows.
See the county courts
Common questions
Asked in plain English
Direct contact
Reach the Probate Guy directly
Call, email, or write to the office for a free, confidential conversation about the house and the estate. Guy works primarily in Cypress, and serves Katy, Hockley, and Northwest Houston across Greater Houston.
Houston, TX 77049
Reach out
The house can wait. The conversation should not.
Tell Guy where things stand, and get a straight answer about what comes next. Confidential, free, and with no pressure to list.