Sell a House for Back Taxes in Palm Coast, FL

Property taxes on a Palm Coast house become delinquent on April 1 if they are not paid by March 31, and from that day the Flagler County Tax Collector follows a calendar that this page explains step by step. Nobody comes to the door. Instead the county sells the debt: on June 1 each year it auctions a tax certificate on every delinquent parcel to an investor, who pays the taxes in exchange for interest. Certificates nobody buys become county-held and go on sale from July 1 through LienHub. Two years later the certificate holder can apply for a tax deed, and the Flagler Clerk schedules a sale of the house itself at flagler.realtaxdeed.com.

Palm Coast Cash Buyers buys houses with delinquent taxes and outstanding certificates across Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell: inherited homes in Palm Harbor or the Woodlands where the bills stopped with the owner, seasonal houses whose owner lost track, vacant lots in the lettered sections. The taxes, interest, certificate redemption and any tax deed application costs are paid through the title company at closing from the purchase price. This page explains the Flagler County process and the timeline you are working against.

• April 1: delinquency. Unpaid taxes become delinquent and interest and advertising costs are added.
• June 1: certificate sale. The Tax Collector sells a certificate on the parcel to the bidder who accepts the lowest interest rate, bid down from 18% with a 5% minimum. The holder earns that interest and does not own the house.
• July 1: county-held certificates. Unsold certificates become county-held and can be bought through LienHub.
• Two years from April 1: tax deed application. The holder may apply through LienHub once the certificate is two years old and before seven years from issue. The application pays off other certificates on the parcel, so the redemption figure grows.
• Tax deed auction. The Clerk notices the owner and lienholders and sells online at flagler.realtaxdeed.com. You may redeem by paying everything due until the clerk issues the tax deed.

At flagler.realtaxdeed.com the opening bid is built from taxes, interest and costs, not from what the house would bring on the market. For a homestead property the opening bid is half the assessed value plus the taxes, which is still far below a Palm Coast median sale of around $360,000. If the house has a mortgage, the lender usually pays the taxes to protect its lien and adds the amount to your loan. If there is no mortgage, as with many inherited homes where 37.7% of Palm Coast owners hold free and clear, the house can go for a fraction of its value. Florida does return surplus above the taxes and liens to the former owner, but the claim runs through the clerk and takes time. A negotiated sale pays the taxes and leaves the rest to you.

When we buy a house with delinquent taxes, the title company pulls the current amount due from the Flagler County Tax Collector and, if a tax deed application is pending, from the Clerk's Tax Deeds office at 386-313-4375. That figure covers every outstanding certificate, interest and application costs. It is paid at closing from the purchase price, the certificates are redeemed, and any scheduled tax deed sale is cancelled. You bring money only if the taxes plus any mortgage and other liens exceed the price. One signing, the deed is recorded with the Flagler Clerk, and your proceeds are wired. We pay the customary closing costs, and there is no commission. Your net is the price minus the taxes minus any mortgage and liens.

Most tax-delinquent houses do not belong to people who refused to pay. Palm Coast has a median age of 50.4 and about 30% of residents are 65 or older, so many belong to estates where nobody knew who was responsible, to owners who moved to assisted living, or to families who did not realize that when a parent died the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap ended with them. The next bill is then based on full market value, which for a home held since the first ITT residents arrived in 1972 can be several times what the family expected. If the home is in an estate, the sale usually runs through the Seventh Judicial Circuit's probate division in Bunnell, and we coordinate with the personal representative, the person the court appoints to act for the estate, so the sale closes once the court's order or letters are in hand.

A house behind on taxes is often behind elsewhere. The City of Palm Coast's Code Enforcement Board levies per-day fines for weeds and overgrowth, nuisance accumulations and inoperable vehicles, and an unpaid order can become a lien. A Grand Haven or Hammock Dunes association balance, a CDD assessment, a utility account or a mortgage that stopped at the same time all surface in the title search. Each is paid or negotiated at closing the same way the taxes are. If a code case is open, Florida law requires the seller to disclose it to the buyer in writing and notify the code officer within 5 days of the transfer; we take over the case and the compliance work after closing, so you do not need to clear the violation first.

If you have only received the first delinquency notice, you have time, but interest is accruing at the certificate's rate and the simplest fix is to decide now whether you want to keep the house. If a certificate has been sold, there is still time, though every month costs more. If a tax deed notice from the Flagler Clerk has arrived, contact us immediately: we see the house within a day or two, deliver a written offer within 24 hours of the visit, and can close in about a week once the title company has the redemption figure. Redemption lasts until the clerk issues the deed, and the clerk's processing of an application can take up to 3 months, so the notice is not the end. We will look up exactly what is owed on your parcel and tell you where you stand before you decide anything.