Forsyth County tax foreclosure sales

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Forsyth publishes the most transparent working list in this North Carolina set: every parcel with its case number, sale date, and live status, including whether it sits in its upset bid period or is pending confirmation. Read the statuses and the list becomes a calendar: the two most recent sale parcels, sold Friday, November 6, 2026, were both inside their 10 day upset windows as this page is checked. One boundary to respect: the Sheriff's Office runs its own auctions of seized property under executions and tax warrants, a separate channel from this Tax Administration foreclosure list.

Selling office: Forsyth County Tax Administration: the Tax Assessor/Collector (Amanda Markle), selling under orders of the Superior Court of Forsyth County through a legal representative; the attorney named on every listed parcel is Mark D. Bardill.

Next event: Most recent sale day: Friday, November 6, 2026, 12:00 p.m.; its parcels are in their upset bid period. The Tax Administration list shows two parcels sold November 6, 2026 at noon (1045 Allen St, Winston Salem, case 17 CVD 003361-330, and 4086 Marie Drive, Winston Salem, case 17 CVD 005260-330), both in Foreclosure Sale, Upset Bid Period status as of November 9, 2026. No future dated tax foreclosure sale is posted on the list. Separately, the Sheriff's Office auctions page posts an auction on Wednesday, November 18, 2026 at noon (5461 Becks Church Rd, Winston Salem); that page covers executions, court orders and tax warrants and does not label the item a tax foreclosure sale, so it is not counted as one here.

The live list is the count: two parcels in their upset bid period and others pending confirmation as of November 9, 2026; the list updates as cases move.

Dates and stages

Next event	Most recent sale day: Friday, November 6, 2026, 12:00 p.m.; its parcels are in their upset bid period
Sale track	Judicial foreclosure under orders of the Superior Court, sold for cash to the last and highest bidder. Properties sell as is, without opinion as to title, and subject to all outstanding county, city and fire district taxes and local improvement assessments not included in the judgment.
Sale pattern	Rolling individual sales, grouped on posted sale days at noon, per parcel on the county list. The minimum bid fields on the list are blank; do not assume a published minimum.
Upset bids	Interested bidders may place upset bids at the Forsyth County Courthouse, 1st floor Civil Department, during the upset period. Once a parcel's status reads Pending Confirmation, upset bids are no longer accepted. The duration, increase and deposit figures are not published on the list page; the state rule in the terms table governs.
The list	The Tax Administration foreclosure property list at forsyth.cc (also mirrored on the county map site), parcel by parcel with case numbers and statuses.
Format	In person, courthouse, per parcel sale days: Forsyth County Courthouse, 2nd floor, 175 N. Chestnut St, Winston-Salem (corner of Second and Chestnut), per parcel on the Tax Administration foreclosure list.
Selling office	Forsyth County Tax Administration: the Tax Assessor/Collector (Amanda Markle), selling under orders of the Superior Court of Forsyth County through a legal representative; the attorney named on every listed parcel is Mark D. Bardill.

Sources: Forsyth County Tax Administration, foreclosure property list. Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, auctions (separate channel). Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and owners can pay and stop a sale at any point before the upset bid period expires.

Research Forsyth 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 Forsyth County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How North Carolina tax foreclosure works

There is no tax lien sale in North Carolina. Property taxes are a lien on the property itself, and the county's remedy is foreclosure of that lien, not an auction of the lien. Guilford County's page states it in one line: North Carolina state law prohibits the sale of property tax liens. Any site selling you a North Carolina tax lien certificate is selling something the state does not issue.
Track one: judicial foreclosure (NCGS 105-374). The taxing unit files a foreclosure action in superior court, takes a judgment, and the court appoints a commissioner to sell the property. The commissioner advertises the sale (published once a week for two weeks and posted at the courthouse, at least 20 days in the counties that state the posting period), cries it at the courthouse, and on confirmation executes a Commissioner's Deed. It works like a mortgage foreclosure, because the statute builds it on one.
Track two: in rem foreclosure (NCGS 105-375). The taxing unit dockets a judgment with the Clerk of Superior Court without a full court action, and the judgment is enforced by execution: the sheriff advertises and sells the property, and conveys by Sheriff's Deed. Counties choose the track, and some in this set use both; the track decides who sells and which deed you get.
The sale itself is only the opening price. The officer or commissioner files a report of sale, and the price stands open for 10 days. The taxing unit itself often bids the judgment amount at the sale, so a winning bid below the tax debt is not the bargain it looks like until the upset period runs.
The upset bid period is the real auction. For 10 days after the report of sale (or after the last notice of upset bid) is filed, any person may file an upset bid with the Clerk of Superior Court: a bid exceeding the reported price by at least 5 percent, with a minimum increase of $750, backed by a deposit of at least 5 percent of the upset bid and never less than $750 (NCGS 1-339.64 for in rem and execution sales; NCGS 45-21.27 states the same math). Each valid upset bid restarts a fresh 10 day period, with no limit on rounds. Only when a period expires with no upset bid do the rights of the parties become fixed; the sale is then confirmed and the deed issues. The owner can still pay the judgment and costs and stop the process at any point up to the end of the upset period.

How bidding works in Forsyth County

No bidder registration is published on the Tax Administration list; sales are for cash to the last and highest bidder. Upset bids are placed in person at the courthouse Civil Department.

There are two deposits, not one. The sale deposit goes to the officer, commissioner or attorney at the sale itself, at the percentage your county's row above states. The upset bid deposit goes to the Clerk of Superior Court if you enter or raise during the 10 day window. They are different money, paid to different offices.
The upset window is where North Carolina sales are actually decided. A parcel can look won on sale day and change hands twice more inside successive 10 day periods. Work the Clerk's file for the parcel, not just the sale day result.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Forsyth County	No sale deposit figure is published on the Tax Administration list read. The deposit a Forsyth buyer should plan on is the upset bid deposit under state law if they enter during the upset period; see the terms table.
Payment, Forsyth County	Sales are for cash, per the list's sale language. No fuller payment timetable is published on the list page read; the sale notice for the parcel and the attorney conducting the sale control.
Sale deposit	Set by each sale's notice, not by one statewide figure. In this set the published sale deposits run from 5 percent of the bid (New Hanover, Union) through 10 percent (Durham) to 20 percent (Guilford, Gaston), in cash or certified funds. The county figure is in the deposit row above; the notice for your parcel controls.
The upset bid raise	An upset bid must exceed the reported sale price, or the last upset bid, by a minimum of 5 percent, and in any event by at least $750. One of the two numbers is always bigger; compute both and use the larger.
The upset bid deposit	Filed with the Clerk of Superior Court with the bid: cash, a certified check or a cashier's check of at least 5 percent of the amount of the upset bid, and never less than $750. Several counties in this set use the standard form AOC-CV-414 for the bid.
The clock	Ten calendar days from the filing of the report of sale or the last notice of upset bid, expiring at the close of the Clerk's normal business hours on the tenth day. Weekends count inside the period; where the tenth day falls on a day the courthouse is closed, the filing rolls to the next open day, as Gaston and Guilford state expressly. Every upset bid restarts the full 10 days.
Title and redemption	The deed is a non-warranty Commissioner's Deed or Sheriff's Deed. There is no post sale redemption in North Carolina tax foreclosure: the owner's right is to pay the judgment and stop the sale, and it ends when the upset period expires and the sale is confirmed. A tax foreclosure sale may also leave the buyer subject to taxes and assessments that were not part of the judgment, as Forsyth's list states expressly; read the notice's subject to language before pricing a bid.

County owned parcels: the negotiated offer route

A parcel the county ends up owning through a tax foreclosure is sold by negotiated offer, advertisement and upset bids under N.C.G.S. 153A-176 and 160A-269: the county advertises a received offer, the offeror deposits 5 percent of the bid with the Clerk to the Board before advertisement, and the Board of Commissioners sells to the highest bidder after the upset window. An official Board resolution for exactly such a parcel (0 Kevin Drive, Winston-Salem, acquired through a property tax foreclosure) documents the route. The county's GovDeals use on official pages is for surplus personal property, not foreclosed real estate.

Before you bid

The hammer price is an opening offer. Budget and plan for the upset period: anyone in the state can outbid you at the Clerk's office for 10 days, and each raise restarts the clock. Your real closing date is the day a period finally expires.
Read the notice's subject to language. Tax foreclosure deeds are non-warranty, and taxes or assessments outside the judgment can survive the sale. The notice for the parcel, not the county page, is the full term sheet.
Know the track. Judicial sales run through a court appointed commissioner and end in a Commissioner's Deed; in rem sales run through the sheriff and end in a Sheriff's Deed. The track also decides who holds your deposit and who answers questions.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown. In an upset bid state, set two numbers: your sale day bid and your walk away upset ceiling.

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