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Tax Sale Atlas

Roanoke County, VA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Roanoke County, seat of Salem: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Virginia tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Announcements
The parcel list for a given auction is published roughly 30 days before the sale.
Format
County site
County office
540-772-2056
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Roanoke County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Virginia localities do not sell tax lien certificates to investors. The locality holds its own first-priority tax lien and enforces it through a judicial sale of the property.

Tax deed sale

Online auction
Run by
Roanoke County Treasurer's Office, with the auction itself conducted by Woltz & Associates, the county's auction company
Frequency
annual
Sale list
Lands Delinquent and Subject to Sale
When it runs
The annual list of parcels three years delinquent is published in a local news source each February and posted on the Treasurer's Judicial Sales page. Auctions are not on a fixed annual calendar: the county schedules one once the court process has been completed on at least 10 parcels, and it reports holding 14 auctions over the past 18 years. The most recent sale was held on September 26, 2025 at 10 a.m. at the Roanoke County Administration Center. The county has not yet posted a date for the next auction. The parcel list for a given auction is published roughly 30 days before the sale.
Registration and deposit

Register with Woltz & Associates, the auction company running the sale, and contact the firm directly for any additional requirements. Registration usually opens at least an hour before the auction. Bidding is open to the public, and the county asks bidders to have their own local taxes paid in full before registering. The auctioneer sets the opening bid, which generally reflects the assessed value, and bidding rises in increments to the highest bidder. The auctioneer also records the second highest bidder, who may be offered the property if the winner defaults. Read the terms of sale posted for each auction, because payment terms change from sale to sale.

Sale format and venue
Roanoke County sells the deed through a Virginia judicial sale. Under Va. Code 58.1-3965 the Treasurer refers parcels that remain delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the tax, a special commissioner petitions the circuit court to sell them, and the court confirms the result. From referral to removal from the court docket generally takes six to twelve months. Bidding happens live at the Roanoke County Administration Center, Board of Supervisors Meeting Room, 5204 Bernard Drive SW, Roanoke, VA 24018, and the county may announce a different location for a particular sale. Every sale is subject to county and court approval, and a purchase can be denied if the bid comes in substantially below the value of the property. Winning bidders usually receive title six to eight weeks after the auction. The buyer pays the bidder's premium, the high bid, and the cost of recording the deed at the Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, and takes the parcel free of back taxes, mortgages, deeds of trust and nuisance abatement liens under Va. Code 58.1-3967. Owners may redeem until 5 p.m. on the day before the auction, so an advertised parcel can come off the list at the last minute. There is no post-sale redemption once the court confirms. Everything sells as is and where is, in gross rather than by the acre, with no warranty of insurable title, so run your own survey and title work before bidding.
Register on Online auction
Source: Judicial Sales, Roanoke County Treasurer's Office· Verified Aug 23, 2026

Roanoke County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Roanoke County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Lands Delinquent and Subject to Sale for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Roanoke County Treasurer's Office, with the auction itself conducted by Woltz & Associates, the county's auction company as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Roanoke County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Lands Delinquent and Subject to Sale. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register with Woltz & Associates, the auction company running the sale, and contact the firm directly for any additional requirements. Registration usually opens at least an hour before the auction. Bidding is open to the public, and the county asks bidders to have their own local taxes paid in full before registering. The auctioneer sets the opening bid, which generally reflects the assessed value, and bidding rises in increments to the highest bidder. The auctioneer also records the second highest bidder, who may be offered the property if the winner defaults. Read the terms of sale posted for each auction, because payment terms change from sale to sale.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Virginia due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax sale office

Roanoke County Treasurer's Office

540-772-2056

5204 Bernard Drive, Roanoke, VA 24018 (mailing: P.O. Box 29800, Roanoke, VA 24018-0798)

Official website

County notes

  • Roanoke County and the City of Roanoke are separate governments with separate treasurers and separate delinquent tax sales. The county seat is Salem, which is itself an independent city. A delinquent land sale advertised for the City of Roanoke, whose collections run through the law firm Taxing Authority Consulting Services, is not a Roanoke County sale, so confirm which jurisdiction a parcel sits in before you bid.
  • Auctions here are episodic rather than scheduled. The county waits until at least 10 parcels have cleared the court process, so track the Treasurer's Judicial Sales page and the legal notices in the local paper instead of expecting a fixed annual date. Woltz & Associates keeps an interested-bidder list and posts each sale on its own auction calendar.
  • Appearing on the annual Lands Delinquent and Subject to Sale list does not mean a parcel will reach the auction block. The Treasurer works with owners to clear the balance, and many parcels come off the list before a suit is filed or before the sale date.
  • Assessment, tax map and zoning detail for a listed parcel is available through the county's TaxView application, and the Real Estate Valuation office at 540-772-2035 can answer assessment questions. Code Enforcement, Building Inspections and Zoning can add condition and use detail. All bidders are responsible for their own due diligence.
  • Auction results are public record. The Decree of Confirmation filed with the Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office shows which parcels sold, to whom, and for how much.

Virginia rules

Redemption
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.
Deed deposit
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.
Surplus proceeds
The former owner and the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, or assigns are entitled to the surplus received from the sale above the taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorney fees, costs, and any liens chargeable on the parcel, and the burden is on the claimant to prove entitlement. If no claim is made within two years after the date the sale is confirmed, the clerk pays the money to the locality that received the sale proceeds. On the nonjudicial track, excess proceeds sit in an interest-bearing escrow account held by the treasurer, a claimant has two years from the date of sale to schedule a hearing in circuit court, and unclaimed money goes to the locality's general fund.
Governing statute
Va. Code Title 58.1, Chapter 39, Article 4

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

See the full Virginiarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Roanoke County, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Virginia sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the county sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Roanoke County hold tax deed sales?

Roanoke County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Virginia's redemption rule: Until the date set for the sale. Virginia has no post-sale redemption period. Call the Roanoke County Treasurer's Office, with the auction itself conducted by Woltz & Associates, the county's auction company as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Roanoke County tax sale list?

Roanoke County posts its tax sale list at roanokecountyva.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state sources.

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.

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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

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Call Roanoke County Treasurer's Office