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 core difference, how each sale works, and which one fits your goal.
Beginner's Guide to Tax Sale Investing
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
The deed buyer’s biggest risk is a sight-unseen parcel. The access, title, zoning, and condition checklist that separates a bargain from a write-off.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
An honest look at the real risks of tax lien and tax deed investing: worthless parcels, tied-up capital, title problems, and bid-down returns.
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.