Learn before you bid
Tax sale investing guides
Start with the core concepts, then go deep on the deed buyer's hardest problem: valuing a parcel before the auction. Every guide is written plainly and points back to the county rules that apply.
Start here
New to tax sales? These cornerstones cover what you are buying and how a sale runs.
Tax Lien vs Tax Deed: What You're Actually Buying
A tax lien earns you interest; a tax deed can hand you the property. Here is the main difference, how each sale works, and which one fits your goal.
Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing for Beginners
New to tax sales? How counties sell delinquent taxes, what you can earn, the real risks, and a sensible path to your first lien or deed deal.
Due Diligence Before a Tax Sale: How to Value a Parcel Before You Bid
Check access, title records, surviving liens, bankruptcy and land value before a tax sale. Use the pre-bid checklist to set a researched maximum bid.
How Florida Tax Sales Work
Florida runs two tax sales: annual lien certificates by the Tax Collector and tax deed auctions by the Clerk. The full cycle under F.S. Chapter 197.
How Arizona Tax Sales Work
Arizona sells tax liens each February. The treasurer runs a bid-down auction, you earn up to 16 percent, and an unredeemed lien can reach deed.
How Alabama Tax Sales Work
Alabama counties pick one of two systems each year. Most now run a lien auction March to June, bidding down from 12 percent with no floor.
How California Tax Sales Work
California sells the deed, not a lien. Counties auction tax-defaulted property after five years, and redemption ends the day before bidding opens.
How Georgia Tax Sales Work
Georgia sells a redeemable tax deed on the courthouse steps the first Tuesday monthly. Redemption pays a flat 20 percent, never prorated.
How Texas Tax Sales Work
Texas sells redeemable deeds the first Tuesday of the month. Redemption pays a flat 25 percent, and the clock starts when your deed records.
How Arkansas Tax Sales Work
Arkansas tax sales belong to one statewide office. The Commissioner of State Lands auctions every delinquent parcel, and counties sell nothing.
How Connecticut Tax Sales Work
Connecticut towns sell the property itself, not a lien. The deed waits six months for redemption, then records with no court case.
How Delaware Tax Sales Work
Delaware tax sales are sheriff sales of the parcel. The owner has 60 days after court approval to redeem at a flat 15 percent premium.
How District of Columbia Tax Sales Work
D.C. sells tax liens at one annual auction. The rate is fixed, bidders compete on price, and title takes a Superior Court suit.
How Hawaii Tax Sales Work
Hawaii sells redeemable tax deeds under four county codes. Buyers pay the full bid in person at the auction, and owners get a year to redeem.
How Idaho Tax Sales Work
Idaho sells no tax liens. The county takes the deed first, then must auction the property within fourteen months, with no redemption left for the buyer.
How Iowa Tax Sales Work
Iowa pays a fixed 2 percent per month and never bids that rate down. Bidders compete by accepting a smaller share of ownership in the parcel.
How Kansas Tax Sales Work
Kansas tax sales run through the district court and end at a sheriff's auction. Redemption closes on the day of that sale.
How Kentucky Tax Sales Work
Kentucky sells certificates of delinquency at face value with no bidding, and prior year holders claim parcels before the sale opens.
How Louisiana Tax Sales Work
Louisiana rewrote its tax sale for 2026. Tax collectors now auction the tax lien itself, and bidding runs the monthly interest rate down.
How Maryland Tax Sales Work
Maryland tax sales are premium-bid lien auctions. The redemption rate is set county by county, and title arrives only through a circuit court case.
How Michigan Tax Sales Work
Michigan sells no tax lien certificates. County treasurers foreclose in court, then auction property whose redemption rights already expired.
How Minnesota Tax Sales Work
Minnesota tax sales issue no lien certificates. Land forfeits to the state first, then the county auditor sells it at auction.
How Mississippi Tax Sales Work
Mississippi tax sales run on the last Monday in August, pay a fixed monthly rate, and give the county every dollar bid above the taxes and costs.
How Missouri Tax Sales Work
Missouri holds one delinquent land tax sale each August, and how many times a parcel has been offered decides what the winner takes home.
How Montana Tax Sales Work
Montana tax sales run by assignment, not auction. The county holds every delinquent tax lien until an investor buys it from the treasurer.
How Nebraska Tax Sales Work
Nebraska tax sales pay a fixed rate and nothing is bid. Registered bidders draw numbered tickets for parcels every first Monday in March.
How Nevada Tax Sales Work
Nevada sells no tax lien certificates. Counties hold delinquent parcels in trust for two years, then sell them by order of the county commissioners.
How New Jersey Tax Sales Work
In New Jersey tax sales, each of 564 towns sells its own liens. Bids cut the rate, then turn to premiums, and only a court ends redemption.
How New Mexico Tax Sales Work
New Mexico tax sales are state-run tax deed auctions, with no lien certificates and no redemption once the sale ends.
How New York Tax Sales Work
New York sells no tax liens to investors outside Nassau County. Counties foreclose in rem, take title, then auction property no one can redeem.
How North Carolina Tax Sales Work
North Carolina sells no tax lien certificates. Counties foreclose in court, and every winning bid stays open to upset bids for another 10 days.
How North Dakota Tax Sales Work
North Dakota sells no tax liens. The county forecloses, takes the deed itself, then resells its own land on one statewide date each November.
How Ohio Tax Sales Work
Ohio counties choose: sell tax certificates, or foreclose the lien in court. Which sale you can buy at depends on the county, not on state law.
How Oklahoma Tax Sales Work
Oklahoma sells no tax liens. Its one investor auction is the June resale, and redemption ends the moment bidding starts.
How Oregon Tax Sales Work
Oregon sells no tax liens. Counties foreclose in court, wait out two years of redemption, then auction at two-thirds of market value.
How Pennsylvania Tax Sales Work
Pennsylvania tax sales are deed sales. A September upset sale leaves recorded mortgages standing, and only a judicial sale clears them.
How Rhode Island Tax Sales Work
In Rhode Island, 39 cities and towns run their own tax sales. Bidders take the smallest ownership share, and only a court decree ends redemption.
How South Carolina Tax Sales Work
South Carolina sells redeemable tax deeds. Redemption pays a penalty that steps by quarter and stops at the county's own opening bid.
How South Dakota Tax Sales Work
South Dakota caps a tax certificate bid at ten percent a year, and a 2024 statute turned the deed into a payout instead of land.
How Tennessee Tax Sales Work
Tennessee sells redeemable tax deeds through chancery court, and the redemption clock starts at the order confirming the sale, not the auction.
How Utah Tax Sales Work
Utah tax sales are deed sales held once a year in May or June, and each county sets its own bidding method by ordinance.
How Virginia Tax Sales Work
Virginia sells no tax liens. A court appoints a special commissioner to auction the parcel, and no sale is final until a judge confirms it.
How Washington Tax Sales Work
Washington sells tax deeds, not liens. Counties foreclose in superior court after three years, and redemption ends the day before the sale.
How West Virginia Tax Sales Work
West Virginia sells tax liens at one State Auditor auction per county. The sheriff no longer holds a sale, and no certificate is issued.
How Wisconsin Tax Sales Work
Wisconsin tax sales skip the lien stage. The county takes title itself, then sells the land it owns by open or closed bid.
How Wyoming Tax Sales Work
Wyoming tax sales sell lien certificates at a fixed return, and counties award parcels by a buyer-number draw, not by bidding.
How Illinois Tax Sales Work
Illinois pays a penalty per six-month redemption period, not annual interest. A 2026 act replaced the tax deed with a court auction.
Tax Deed Surplus Funds: Who Gets the Overbid
When a winning tax deed bid tops the opening bid, the surplus goes to lienholders and the former owner, not the buyer. See who claims it and how.
Tax Sale Auction Platforms: How Online Bidding Works
A practical guide to tax sale auction platforms: register, fund a deposit, and bid on LienHub, RealAuction, GovEase, and Bid4Assets.
How Tax-Sale Investing Profits Are Taxed
How federal rules tax tax-sale profits: lien interest as ordinary income, tax deed flips as capital gains, plus dealer status, deductions, and IRAs.
How Indiana Tax Sales Work
Indiana pays a flat 10 or 15 percent penalty on the minimum bid, not annual interest, and the overbid earns a separate 5 percent a year.
How Colorado Tax Sales Work
Colorado sets one statewide rate each year and never bids it down. Bidders compete on price, and a 2024 act replaced the deed with an auction.
Avoiding Tax Sale Scams: Spot Fraud and Verify a Real Lien
How to spot deed theft, fake liens, surplus-recovery scams, and guaranteed-return pitches around tax sales, and how to verify a real lien.
Core concepts
The mechanics that decide your return: the redemption clock and the bidding format.
Redemption Periods Explained
The redemption period sets how long owners have to buy back a lien or deed, and it drives your yield. How it works and why states differ.
Bidding Methods Explained: Bid-Down, Premium, Rotational, and Sealed
Tax sales use four auction formats. How bid-down-interest, premium bid, rotational, and sealed bid work, and how each changes what you pay.
The Risks of Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing
Tax lien and tax deed risks: unusable land, bankruptcy stays, title claims and delayed returns. Research the downside before bidding.
Tax Deed vs Foreclosure: What Is the Difference?
How a tax deed sale differs from a mortgage foreclosure and a sheriff sale: who runs each, what triggers it, what you get, and what survives.
Realistic Tax Lien Returns: What You Actually Earn
Why advertised tax lien rates (18 to 36 percent) are not what you earn. How bid-down auctions, redemption timing, and costs shape realistic returns.
Strategy
Ways to put capital to work once you know the basics.
Over-the-Counter Tax Liens (and Leftover Deeds)
Certificates and parcels nobody bought at auction, bought straight from the county with no bidding. How OTC liens and lands-available work.
Arizona Tax Lien Foreclosure and the Treasurer's Deed
An unredeemed Arizona tax lien becomes property only through a court foreclosure. Here is the path from certificate to treasurer's deed and title.
Arizona Subsequent-Tax Purchases (Sub-Taxing)
Sub-taxing lets an Arizona lien holder pay later years' taxes at the same rate, protecting first position. How subsequent purchases work.
Buying Tax Liens in a Self-Directed IRA
How to hold tax lien certificates in a self-directed IRA so interest grows tax-advantaged, plus the prohibited-transaction rules that trip people up.
How to Find Tax Sale Property Lists
Where to find tax sale and delinquent property lists: free official county sources first, how to read them, and when a paid data tool is worth it.
How to Fund a Tax Sale Purchase: The Cash Reality
Why tax sales take cash, not a mortgage: the certified-funds reality, the no-money-down myth, and the real ways investors fund a lien or deed.
Put it into practice
Open a county to see its sale calendar, auction platform, and rules, then use the guides to prepare.