Get a cash offer for a house with a tax lien.
Unpaid property taxes, a sold tax certificate, a redemption clock. Enter your address and see a real cash number. We pay the lien off at closing.
The county sold your tax bill. You still have time.
In most US states, unpaid property taxes get sold at an annual tax sale (or scavenger sale, depending on the state). A third-party investor buys the lien, not the house. You then have a redemption window — anywhere from 6 months to 3 years depending on your state's tax-sale statute — to pay the back taxes plus penalties and get clear. Miss the window and the lien holder can petition for a tax deed, which wipes you out.
The penalty math is brutal in every state. Common penalty rates run 12–24% annually and ratchet up the longer the lien sits. The lien buyer holds a certificate; the owner has the redemption window to make them whole.
Most sellers who call us about a tax lien have 6 to 18 months left on the clock. The math still works. A cash buyer pays off the county and the certificate holder at closing, and you walk away with what's left.
Your stage sets your buyer pool and your offer range.
What a cash buyer actually pays here.
A cash buyer starts from after-repair value (ARV) and works back through repairs, holding costs, resale costs, and margin — the standard 65–75% of ARV. On a tax-lien house, the buyer also has to pay off the county and the certificate holder at closing. That payoff comes out of the buyer's purchase funds, not yours, but it does trim the offer by another 2–5 points depending on how deep you are into the penalty schedule.
Example: $260,000 ARV, $15,000 in repairs, $18,000 in back taxes and penalties. The math lands roughly at $260,000 × 0.70 = $182,000, minus $15,000 repairs, minus a 2-point tax-situation adjustment, for a cash offer around $160,000. The $18,000 tax payoff is wired at closing on the buyer's side. You see every line on your offer page.
One honest note. If you have significant equity and plenty of redemption time left, the better play may be to borrow against the house or set up a payment plan with the county to redeem directly. Cash is not always the move.[1]
Cash vs. listing — here's how long each takes.
If your redemption deadline is inside 60 days, cash is probably the only sale type that closes in time. A listing will not. If you have a year or more of runway and the house is in good shape, list it — the spread between retail and cash is usually larger than the penalty interest you'd pay while it sells.
With work before listing, photos, time on market, and inspection risk. On a tight timeline, a listing usually doesn't close in time — you'd want cash or a hybrid strategy.
When cash is NOT the right move on a tax lien.
If the lien is small relative to your equity — say, $8,000 owed on a $300,000 house — paying it directly or setting up an installment plan with the county is almost always cheaper than selling for cash. Call the county treasurer before you call any buyer.
If you have a year or more before the tax deed petition window opens, a standard listing usually nets more money after commissions than a cash sale does. The 12% annual penalty is real, but the 25–30% cash discount is bigger.
And if the lien is the symptom of a fixable income gap — lost job, medical event, one bad year — a tax-assistance program or a homeowner-hardship exemption can buy you time without selling. Every state operates a Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) program that has paid off delinquent property taxes for qualifying homeowners.
Cash offer · List with agent · Redeem directly.
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