St. Johns County tax deed sales

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St. Johns County (county seat St. Augustine) sells tax deeds in person, run by the St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller, Brandon J. Patty on In person at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center, 4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL 32084. There is no online auction platform. A Deputy Clerk employed by the Clerk's Office conducts the sale, and the Clerk's online Tax Deed Search for files and status is at apps.stjohnsclerk.com/TaxSmart.. Tax deed sales are generally held several times per month on Wednesdays at 12:00 PM EST, unless the property is redeemed prior to the sale.

Next sale on the calendar: Wednesdays at 12:00 PM EST, several times per month, as scheduled. The Clerk publishes the Wednesday pattern rather than one named next date, so no single date is claimed here.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Wednesdays at 12:00 PM EST, several times per month, as scheduled
Sale pattern	Tax deed sales are generally held several times per month on Wednesdays at 12:00 PM EST, unless the property is redeemed prior to the sale.
Format	In person
Platform	In person at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center, 4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL 32084. There is no online auction platform. A Deputy Clerk employed by the Clerk's Office conducts the sale, and the Clerk's online Tax Deed Search for files and status is at apps.stjohnsclerk.com/TaxSmart.
Selling office	St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller, Brandon J. Patty
The list	Yes. The Clerk describes Lands Available for Taxes as tax deed applications made by the County but not purchased at a tax deed sale. After 90 days any person or governmental unit may purchase the land for the opening bid plus omitted years taxes, with the total price made up of the original opening bid, additional taxes due, recording fees, indexing fees and documentary stamp tax. Tax deed files may be viewed in the Tax Deed Search on the Clerk site.

Sources: St. Johns County Clerk, Tax Deeds. St. Johns County Clerk, Tax Deed Frequently Asked Questions. St. Johns County Clerk, Tax Deed Search. Confirm with the selling office or on the auction site before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels get pulled when owners redeem.

Research St. Johns County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across St. Johns County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Florida tax deed sales work

Taxes go delinquent on April 1. The Tax Collector then sells a tax certificate on the property, on or before June 1, to a buyer who pays the taxes and earns interest.
The owner can redeem the certificate by paying the Tax Collector everything owed. Most certificates are redeemed and never reach a deed sale.
After two years from April 1 of the year the certificate was issued, the certificate holder may apply for a tax deed (Florida Statutes, Section 197.502). The Clerk then orders a title search, notifies the owner and lienholders, advertises the sale once a week for four weeks, and sets the auction.
The property sells to the highest bidder at the public auction (Section 197.542), starting at an opening bid that covers the outstanding certificates, interest, costs and fees. The owner may still redeem until the Clerk has received full payment for the tax deed.
What nobody bids on becomes Lands Available for Taxes, the county held list that can be bought without an auction. That leftover list is the year round layer under every county page in this set.

How registration works in St. Johns County

No registration with the Clerk's Office is required before the sale. A bidder must arrive at the courthouse 15 minutes before the auction is scheduled to begin.

No deposit is required before the sale. A deposit of $200 or 5 percent of the winning bid, whichever is greater, is required after the sale for each sale where the bidder is the successful bidder, posted immediately following the sale in cash or certified funds in the exact amount required; the Clerk's Office will not accept or hold cashier's checks for amounts exceeding the required deposit.

Owners redeem up to the last moment. A parcel leaves the list when the owner pays. A list you researched last week is not the list that sells.
A winning bid is a contract. Fail to complete payment and the deposit is kept, the property is resold, and the county can bar you from future sales.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit rule, St. Johns County	No deposit is required before the sale. A deposit of $200 or 5 percent of the winning bid, whichever is greater, is required after the sale for each sale where the bidder is the successful bidder, posted immediately following the sale in cash or certified funds in the exact amount required; the Clerk's Office will not accept or hold cashier's checks for amounts exceeding the required deposit.
Balance due	Full payment must be received by the Clerk's Office within 24 hours after the time of sale, in cash or certified funds. Personal checks and credit or debit cards are not accepted.
Deposit rule (state law)	The high bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200, whichever is greater, at the time of the sale, applied to the final price (Florida Statutes, Section 197.542(2)). Online counties collect it in advance, in the bidder account, before the sale opens.
Extra costs on top of the bid	The buyer also pays the documentary stamp tax on the deed and the recording fees. Budget for them in the maximum bid, not after it.
Deed type	A tax deed issued by the selling office after full payment. Properties sell as is, on a buyer beware basis. The selling office makes no warranty about condition, title, zoning, or liens that may survive the sale.
Surplus	If a property sells for more than the opening bid, the surplus is held by the Clerk for the former owner and lienholders to claim under Section 197.582. It is not the buyer's money and it is not a discount on the bid.

Lands Available for Taxes: the leftover list

When a St. Johns County tax deed sale draws no bid at or above the opening bid, the parcel is placed on the county List of Lands Available for Taxes. Anyone may then buy it at the posted price, first come, without an auction, until it is sold or the list is cleared. These are the parcels the auction passed over, so the due diligence matters more, not less: check taxes owed since the sale, liens, access, and zoning before you pay. Yes. The Clerk describes Lands Available for Taxes as tax deed applications made by the County but not purchased at a tax deed sale. After 90 days any person or governmental unit may purchase the land for the opening bid plus omitted years taxes, with the total price made up of the original opening bid, additional taxes due, recording fees, indexing fees and documentary stamp tax. Tax deed files may be viewed in the Tax Deed Search on the Clerk site.

Before you bid

Check the list on the morning of the sale. Redemptions and cancellations run right up to sale time.
Run the parcel, not the headline. Look up assessed value and ownership with the county Property Appraiser, read the Clerk's tax deed file, and screen the opening bid against both before you set a maximum.
Some liens survive. A tax deed clears most private liens, but government liens can remain, and a federal tax lien can carry a 120 day right of redemption for the IRS after the sale. Title work after the sale is the buyer's job.
Set the maximum before the auction opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with deposit, stamps and recording shown.

Every Florida county in this set

One page per county, each verified against its own selling office or auction source. Florida has 67 counties and about 41 with active tax deed sales; this set covers all 67 counties.

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