HomeA tax sale date
The county set a tax sale date on your house. Here is every road.
In Georgia the county can sell a house for back taxes. It runs an ad for four weeks and sells on the courthouse steps on the first Tuesday of the month. That sounds final. It is not. You can pay before the date and keep the house. And even after it sells, Georgia gives you a full year to get it back.
How the clock works
The lien
After taxes go unpaid, the county records a lien on the house. Interest and a penalty start adding up.
The ad
Four weeks in the county paper. The ad names you, the house, and the amount.
The sale
First Tuesday of the month, courthouse steps. The house goes to the highest bidder. The bid often runs well above the taxes owed.
After the sale
You have 12 months to buy it back. The price is what the bidder paid plus 20 percent, plus some costs. After a year the bidder can send a notice to cut that off.
A few counties sell through a court instead of the steps. The windows there are shorter. Tell us the county and we will tell you which one you are in.
Your roads
Side by side, with what each one takes. Selling to us is on the list. It is not at the top.
Pay the county before the date and keep it.
Pay what the ad says, plus costs, and the sale is off. Call the tax commissioner for the exact payoff. Some counties will take a plan. If you can do this, do it.
Sell before the date.
The back taxes come out of the sale price at closing, and the rest is yours. An agent can list it if there is time. A buyer who closes in days can if there is not. We are one of those buyers.
We help pay, and you stay.
Money to stop the sale now, and a plan for the house after. You stay in the house while it gets worked out. We will tell you honestly if it fits.
Let it sell, then buy it back.
This is a real road in Georgia. You have 12 months after the sale to pay the bidder what they paid plus 20 percent. It is more money than paying before the sale. So it is the road for when the date is already gone.
Claim the extra money.
If the house sells for more than the taxes, the county holds the extra for you. Families forget to ask for it. Ask. It is yours.
What we do
We help Georgia families stop a tax sale before the date. Tell us the address. We pull what the county shows: the date, the amount, the lien, and who is on the deed. Then we go through your roads. If you can pay the county and keep it, we say so. If you already missed the date, we walk you through the year you have to get it back.
Questions families ask
How much do I owe?
The ad shows one number. The real payoff is a little higher by sale day, because interest keeps adding. Call the tax commissioner's office and ask for a payoff good through the sale date.
Can I pay part of it?
Paying part does not stop the sale. Some counties let you set up a plan before the sale if you ask early. Ask now.
I missed the sale. Is the house gone?
No. In Georgia you have 12 months to get it back. It costs what the bidder paid plus 20 percent. Call us and we will lay out what that number is and where the money could come from.
What if the deed is in my late parent's name?
The county does not care whose name is on it. It sells anyway. But to pay, sell, or buy it back, you may need to open the estate first. We help families with that too. See the page on a house still in a parent's name.
Do you buy the house?
If that is the road you pick, yes. We can close before the date. It comes last on the call.
Tell us the address. We will pull the date and the payoff.
Free to call. Missed the date already? Still call. The year to get it back starts now.
Prefer to talk? Call 678-379-6820