Not every listing here works the same way. Depending on where it came from, you're looking at a different legal process, a different deed, and a different answer to "can the previous owner still get this back after I buy it." This page walks through what each source actually means; it's not legal or tax advice, just an overview, so read the disclaimer at the bottom before you act on anything here.
This is the bulk of what's on this site. A county has gone unpaid on property taxes long enough that it forecloses and auctions the property to recover the debt, under Texas Property Tax Code Chapter 34. A Sheriff or Constable runs the actual sale no matter who's doing the marketing around it. Most counties hand that marketing off to a trustee law firm: Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott, and McCreary Veselka Bragg & Allen are the three whose listings we pull in directly. A few counties skip the trustee firm: Travis and Caldwell run their bidding through the RealAuction/RealForeclose platform, Denton, Grayson, and Wichita do the same through GovEase, and Collin County just posts its own constable sale notices directly. Different paperwork, same underlying process.
What you get afterward is a Sheriff's or Constable's Deed, not a general warranty deed, so it only passes along whatever interest the previous owner actually had. Most title companies won't insure it until any redemption period has passed, and often not until someone's filed a quiet title suit on top of that.
The redemption period is the part worth paying attention to. Under Tax Code §34.21, the former owner (or a lienholder) can still buy the property back from you afterward: two years out for a homestead, agricultural land, or anything with a mineral interest attached; 180 days for everything else, commercial and vacant land included. If they do redeem it, you get your money back plus a premium: 25% if it happens in the first year (or across the full 180 days for non homestead property), 50% if it stretches into the second year on the 2 year class. Until that window closes, you don't really have free use of what you bought. Double check the current period and premium against the statute itself, or with an attorney, before you bid; don't take this page's word for it.
Payment is almost always cash or a cashier's check, due the same day at the courthouse steps sale.
Run under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law, not Texas's Tax Code: a different statute with meaningfully different rules, even though the listings show up on this site the same way (several PA counties, like several TX ones, sell through the GovEase platform rather than running their own site). A property is first offered at an Upset Sale; if it doesn't sell there, the county can petition the court to resell it at a later Judicial Sale instead. The type matters a lot: an Upset Sale conveys the property subject to existing mortgages, judgments, and other liens of record; you can inherit debt attached to the property, not just the property itself. A Judicial Sale, by contrast, is court ordered to convey free and clear of liens, mortgages, and most claims (as long as every lienholder got proper notice), which is the whole reason a property graduates from one sale type to the other.
Unlike Texas, Pennsylvania generally has no statutory redemption period after either sale type closes; ownership is final, not contingent on a window the former owner can still exercise. The one common exception: in most counties, an owner occupied property carries roughly a 9 month post sale right of redemption if the former owner pays off what's owed. Whether that exception applies, and the exact terms either way, is set by each county's own Tax Claim Bureau; confirm directly with them, and with an attorney, before bidding; this page is a starting point, not the statute.
Run under California's Revenue and Taxation Code (Division 1, Part 6, Chapter 7): a third distinct statutory scheme from either Texas's Tax Code or Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law. A property becomes eligible for sale once its taxes have been in default for five years (Rev. & Tax. Code §3691; a shorter three years applies to certain nonresidential commercial property under the same section; confirm which applies to a specific parcel, don't assume). At that point the county Tax Collector gains the power to sell it and can offer it at public auction, increasingly run online: several California counties on this site sell through Bid4Assets, the same platform several Pennsylvania counties here also use.
The deed you get is a Tax Collector's Deed to Purchaser, and unlike Texas's Sheriff's/Constable's Deed, it conveys title free and clear of most liens and encumbrances that existed before the sale (Rev. & Tax. Code §3712), not an unconditional guarantee, though: recorded easements and restrictive covenants, assessments not yet due, IRS liens (which carry their own separate federal post sale redemption right), and some special district or Mello Roos assessment liens can survive regardless. Confirm what specifically does and doesn't get wiped for a given parcel before you bid.
The redemption period runs the opposite direction from Texas and Pennsylvania's post sale windows: in California, the former owner's right to redeem ends at the close of business the last business day before the auction, not after. Once your winning bid is accepted and payment clears, the sale is final; there's no window afterward where the previous owner can buy the property back from you.
Payment is due fast, typically within a few business days of the auction closing (exact timing depends on the county and the platform), by cashier's check, wire, or ACH; financing isn't part of this process. As with the other sale types on this page, confirm current rules with the specific county's Tax Collector, or with an attorney, before bidding.
Every so often the federal government decides it doesn't need a piece of property anymore and sells it off through GSA, either by sealed bid or online auction; nothing to do with delinquent taxes, just routine disposal under federal regulations. You'll get a quitclaim deed, and unlike the tax sales above, there's no redemption period: once the sale closes, it's closed. Terms are set listing by listing, so read the specific auction before bidding.
These are homes HUD ended up owning after an FHA insured mortgage went into foreclosure; a mortgage default process, not a tax sale. HUD conveys title with a special warranty deed, and there's no redemption period to worry about. Some listings hold a window early on for owner occupant buyers before investors are allowed to bid, and financing varies property to property (some allow FHA loans, others are cash/as is only), so check each listing individually.
When a veteran or service member defaults on a VLB land loan, the state resells the tract: a default process specific to that program, unrelated to property taxes. An approved veteran or military buyer may be able to finance the purchase through VLB itself, historically something like 5% down on a 30 year term, though the rate is the agency's to set and it moves. Confirm current terms and any redemption or rescission rights directly with VLB before bidding; this page isn't the source of truth on what they're currently offering.
Property the IRS seized under Internal Revenue Code §6331 over unpaid federal income tax, not property tax, and sold under §6335. Entirely separate process from anything a county runs. The delinquent taxpayer keeps a 180 day window under §6337 to redeem by repaying your purchase price plus interest, so in practice it works a lot like a county tax sale's redemption period: you might not get to keep it. A deposit is due when you bid, with the balance due shortly after; check the actual Notice of Sale for exact terms.
These lots already went through a county tax foreclosure and either didn't sell or got transferred to the land bank, which now resells them directly; meaning the redemption period already ran its course before these ever showed up here. The catch is that a lot of these carry a minimum development requirement: build to a certain value within a set timeframe as a condition of the below market price. That's not fine print you can skip past; it's on the listing, and it's real.
General surplus property, unrelated to taxes, auctioned off by a state agency, county, or city. Terms vary by seller and by listing enough that there's no single rule of thumb here; read what the specific auction says before bidding.
Everything here sells as is. None of these sellers warranty the property's condition, you usually can't get inside to inspect beforehand, and you're bidding off whatever the public record says; verify what you can before you bid, because there's no verifying after.
Title risk isn't consistent across sale types. A tax deed or IRS deed isn't a warranty deed from a normal closing; liens, easements, or ownership disputes can survive the sale depending on which kind you're dealing with, and title insurance can be slow to arrive or unavailable outright. A title company or real estate attorney can tell you what actually transfers clean on a specific property, and it's worth that call before you commit real money.
You're on the hook for property taxes from your purchase date forward, no matter which of these you bought through.
And financing is rarely part of the process. Most of these sales want cash or certified funds at the time of sale; a conventional mortgage generally isn't in the picture.
The redemption periods, premiums, deed types, and financing terms above reflect how these rules generally work in Texas, Pennsylvania, and federally, as best we can summarize them, but statutes get amended, agencies change their terms, and every property has its own facts that can change the analysis. None of this replaces an actual conversation with a licensed real estate attorney, title company, or tax professional, and you should independently verify current terms with the listing agency (linked from every listing) before bidding on or buying anything. GovLandScout is an independent research tool and isn't affiliated with any county, state, or federal agency.