Each step below is drawn from Iowa statute, not general advice. The exact sale dates, platform, and deposit amounts are set county by county, so confirm the specifics on your county page before you register.
New here? Most beginners start with a certificate (the lien path). The deed steps below apply once you hold a certificate long enough to force a sale, or you bid directly at a tax deed auction. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Learn the timeline and lien priority
Iowa property taxes are payable in halves. The first half is due before September 1 following the levy and becomes delinquent from October 1; the second half is due before March 1 and becomes delinquent from April 1. Delinquent installments draw interest of 1.5 percent per month, counting each fraction of a month as an entire month, with the amount computed to the nearest whole dollar and never less than one dollar. Taxes are a lien on the parcel against all persons except the state, which is what makes an Iowa certificate senior collateral. Parcels still delinquent go to the annual June tax sale. Understand this before you commit any money.
Find the advertised delinquent list
Before the certificate sale, the County Treasurer advertises the delinquent parcels. Annually on the third Monday in June, when the county treasurer offers every parcel with delinquent taxes at public sale. For good cause the treasurer may designate a different date in June, and a parcel that cannot be advertised and offered in June is sold on the third Monday of the next month in which notice can be given. The treasurer mails notice of the sale by May 1 and publishes it once, at least one week and not more than three weeks before the sale. Pull that list for your target county and shortlist the parcels worth researching.
Register, deposit, and bid the ownership share down
Register on the county’s certificate-sale platform and fund the required deposit. The rate does not change hands at the sale: every certificate earns the statutory 24 percent. Bidders instead compete by accepting a smaller percentage of undivided ownership in the parcel if a deed is ever issued, and the lowest percentage wins. There is no statutory minimum return, so what you earn is decided at the sale. Iowa bidders do not bid the interest rate down. They bid down the percentage of undivided ownership in the parcel they will accept if a treasurer's deed later issues, and the smallest percentage offered wins. The percentage cannot be less than 1 percent, so a competitive parcel typically sells at a 1 percent bid. When two or more bidders offer the same smallest percentage, the treasurer picks the winner by a random selection process. A parcel offered at a public nuisance tax sale under section 446.19B cannot be bid below 100 percent.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
The statutory rate is 2 percent per month, which annualizes to 24 percent. Interest runs from the month of sale on the amount the parcel sold for including the certificate fee, and from the month of payment on any subsequent-year taxes the holder pays. Each fraction of a month counts as an entire month, so a redemption early in a month still costs a full month of interest and the effective annualized return on a short hold can exceed 24 percent. The interest amount is rounded to the nearest whole dollar and must be at least one dollar. Because the rate is fixed by statute and never bid, there is no rate below 24 percent per year. A parcel may be redeemed at any time before the right of redemption expires. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, the certificate holder may serve a notice of expiration of the right of redemption on the person in possession, the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, and every mortgagee, contract vendor, recorded lessor, and other party of record. The right of redemption then ends 90 days after that service is complete, which means the affidavit of service has been filed with the county treasurer. Three shortened tracks exist: nine months from a public bidder sale under section 446.18, and three months from an abandoned-property or public nuisance sale under section 446.19A or 446.19B. After the treasurer delivers the deed, redemption is possible only through an equitable action in district court, and only by a person who could have redeemed during the 90-day window. To redeem, the owner pays The amount the parcel sold for including the certificate of purchase fee, plus 2 percent per month from the month of sale counting each fraction of a month as an entire month, plus every subsequent-year tax payment the holder made with the same 2 percent per month from the month of that payment. The interest is rounded to the nearest whole dollar and is never less than one dollar. The cost of serving the notice, certified mail, any publication, and a record search are added to the redemption amount; when the certificate holder is not a county, the record search must be done by an Iowa title guaranty participant or an Iowa-licensed attorney and the search cost added cannot exceed 300 dollars. The assignment transaction fee is never added to the redemption amount. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Or buy over the counter
You do not have to wait for an auction. Iowa has no over-the-counter list in the Florida sense, but two routes reach parcels after the June sale. First, when parcels remain unsold for want of bidders the treasurer adjourns the sale to a date not more than two months out, gives notice at the time of adjournment, and repeats at intervals of not more than two months until the next annual sale, so an investor can buy at an adjourned sale. Second, parcels that draw no bid at the public bidder sale are struck to the county, and the county may assign a certificate it holds for the total amount due on the date of assignment, or compromise that amount and assign, by written agreement filed with the treasurer. The assignment transaction fee on a county-held certificate is 10 dollars; an ordinary investor-to-investor assignment carries a 100 dollar fee, or 10 dollars if the assignor is an estate. A certificate cannot be assigned to a person entitled to redeem that parcel, other than a municipality. Iowa keeps no Lands Available for Taxes list. A certificate held by a county is not subject to the three-year cancellation in section 446.37, so a county can hold it indefinitely. Once the county assigns it, the three-year cancellation clock restarts from the date the treasurer records the assignment, or one year for a public nuisance certificate issued under section 446.19B.
One more step: clear the title
Winning a tax deed does not hand you marketable title. Before you can resell to a normal buyer or insure the parcel, you will usually need a quiet title action, which takes months and costs money. Fold that cost into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed before you bid. A tax deed also does not wipe out everything: select governmental and municipal liens can survive, and a federal tax lien carries a 120-day IRS redemption right, so check what survives a tax deed too.
New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Iowa walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Jul 29, 2026 against Iowa statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.