Washington County tax deed sales

Verified

Washington County (county seat Chipley) sells tax deeds online, run by the Washington County Clerk of Court, Lora C. Bell on RealAuction at washington.realtaxdeed.com. The Clerk conducts the sale via public auction on the Internet, and the auction site provides information for each sale item, including the name of owner, legal description and the opening or base bid.. NOT PUBLISHED. The Clerk Tax Deeds page publishes no fixed weekly or monthly cadence for Washington County tax deed sales; sales run as scheduled on the auction site.

Next sale on the calendar: As scheduled on the auction site; no single date published on the Clerk tax deed page. The Clerk Tax Deeds page names no single next sale date, so no single date is claimed here. Sale items and dates are listed on the auction site at washington.realtaxdeed.com.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	As scheduled on the auction site; no single date published on the Clerk tax deed page
Sale pattern	NOT PUBLISHED. The Clerk Tax Deeds page publishes no fixed weekly or monthly cadence for Washington County tax deed sales; sales run as scheduled on the auction site.
Format	Online
Platform	RealAuction at washington.realtaxdeed.com. The Clerk conducts the sale via public auction on the Internet, and the auction site provides information for each sale item, including the name of owner, legal description and the opening or base bid.
Selling office	Washington County Clerk of Court, Lora C. Bell
The list	NOT PUBLISHED. The Clerk pages read publish no Lands Available rule for Washington County. When a tax deed sale draws no bid, the parcel is placed on the List of Lands Available under the general Florida rule described above; confirm the current list with the Clerk.

Sources: Washington County Clerk of Court, Tax Deeds. 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington County

Anyone may bid on the properties; however, bidders must register on the auction website and place a deposit with the Clerk no later than 24 hours prior to the sale.

The deposit amount for each winning bid is the greater of $200.00 or 5 percent of the winning bid. Deposits may be made in the form of electronic check (ACH), wire transfer a minimum of 4 days in advance through the RealAuction website, or by cash, cashier check or money order delivered to the Clerk of Court office. No personal checks will be accepted for the purchase of property.

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, Washington County	The deposit amount for each winning bid is the greater of $200.00 or 5 percent of the winning bid. Deposits may be made in the form of electronic check (ACH), wire transfer a minimum of 4 days in advance through the RealAuction website, or by cash, cashier check or money order delivered to the Clerk of Court office. No personal checks will be accepted for the purchase of property.
Balance due	The remainder of the bid is due within 24 hours, including the recording fee and state documentary stamps of .70 per $100.00 of the bid. After the sale, the remainder of the winning bid may be made in the form of a wire transfer, cash, cashier check or money order. Upon payment of the remainder of the bid, the tax deeds will be prepared and mailed out.
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 Washington 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. NOT PUBLISHED. The Clerk pages read publish no Lands Available rule for Washington County. When a tax deed sale draws no bid, the parcel is placed on the List of Lands Available under the general Florida rule described above; confirm the current list with the Clerk.

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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The free Max-Bid Calculator works backwards from your resale price to the highest hammer bid you can pay, with the fees shown line by line.

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