Each step below is drawn from Virginia 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
Local levies are due by December 5 unless the locality sets its own dates by ordinance, and a taxpayer who misses that date incurs a 5 percent penalty. Interest runs at 10 percent per year from the first day after the taxes were due. A locality that adopts its own ordinance may set its own due dates and installments, cap penalties at 10 percent of the tax past due, charge interest up to 10 percent in the first year, and for the second and later years of delinquency charge the greater of 10 percent or the Internal Revenue Code section 6621 rate. Virginia gives the tax on real estate a lien on that real estate ahead of every other lien or encumbrance, and it stays a prior lien until the tax is actually paid. Localities can enforce real property taxes by sale under Article 4 for 20 years after December 31 of the year the taxes were assessed. Both the penalty and the interest belong to the locality, never to an investor. Understand this before you commit any money.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
Not applicable to investors. The 10 percent per year interest on delinquent taxes, and the 5 percent nonpayment penalty, are collected by the treasurer for the locality. A buyer at a Virginia tax sale earns no interest and holds no certificate; the return comes from the property itself. An owner listed in the published notice, or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns, may redeem the real estate at any time before the date set for the judicial sale by paying into court everything due. The right ends when the sale happens; Virginia gives no redemption window after the hammer falls and no redemption window after the deed is recorded. Partial payment does not redeem the property and does not suspend, invalidate, or moot the suit. The treasurer may instead suspend the sale by entering an installment agreement with the owner running no more than 72 months, and an owner who defaults on such an agreement cannot enter a second one for the same property for three years. The same before-the-sale-only cutoff applies on the nonjudicial track under 58.1-3975. What does exist after the sale is not redemption but a challenge: a party served only by publication may petition for a rehearing for good cause within 90 days of the order confirming the sale. To redeem, the owner pays All taxes, penalties, and interest due on the real estate, including any outstanding taxes, penalties, and interest owed to a town or other concurrent taxing entity, together with all costs, including the costs of publication and a reasonable attorney fee set by the court. The pro rata cost of the required advertisement and the cost of any title examination done to satisfy the notice requirements are part of that figure whether or not court proceedings have started. Nonpayment penalties run to 5 percent by default, or up to 10 percent of the tax past due under a local ordinance, and interest runs at 10 percent per year, or the ordinance rate. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Apply for a tax deed
Real estate becomes eligible for a judicial sale when its taxes are delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the date they became due. Several conditions shorten that clock, and the treasurer must send written notice to the owner and, where different, to the property address at least 30 days before any suit is filed, and publish a list of the parcels at least 30 days beforehand. Article 4 fixes no statutory minimum bid. The suit asks the court to subject the parcel to the lien for the delinquent taxes, and the special commissioner sells under the terms the court approves. The sale price achieved at a public auction is prima facie but rebuttable evidence of the value of the property for purposes of approving the sale, so a bid the court finds inadequate can be challenged before confirmation.
Bid at the tax deed auction
The A special commissioner appointed by the circuit court, most often the outside attorney the locality employs to bring the suit, working with a licensed auctioneer. On the narrow nonjudicial track under 58.1-3975 the locality's treasurer conducts the auction directly. sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder. No statewide deposit percentage exists. Article 4 leaves the terms of sale to the special commissioner and the confirming court, so the deposit is whatever the advertised terms of that sale require. Read the terms of sale published with each auction and confirm accepted funds with the commissioner before bidding. No statewide payment window exists. The balance is due on the terms the special commissioner advertised and under the order confirming the sale, which is when title actually passes. Confirm the settlement deadline with the commissioner or the auctioneer before bidding.
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 Virginia walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Aug 23, 2026 against Virginia 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.