Help & Support

What's a tax deed?

When a property owner stops paying property taxes, the county eventually auctions the property to recover the unpaid taxes. The winning bidder receives a tax deed — a legal title to the property, free of the prior mortgage in most states. Depending on the state, the sale is run by the county tax collector or treasurer, or by the sheriff or a court-appointed commissioner after a court foreclosure.

Deed state vs lien state — what's the difference?

Tax-deed states (CA, AR, MI, WA, NC, etc.) sell the actual property at auction. In most, the winning bidder owns it after the sale; in redeemable-deed states (TX, GA, RI, VT, DE and others) the former owner can still buy it back for a set time. Florida sells lien certificates first and auctions the deed later.

Tax-lien states (AZ, CO, NJ, MD, IL, etc.) sell a lien certificate — the right to collect the delinquent taxes plus interest. If the owner doesn't redeem within a statutory window (from about 6 months to 4 years depending on the state, and in some states until a court ends it), the lien holder can apply for the deed or foreclose. A few states now auction the property instead and repay the holder.

Every state page on DeedFlex shows which type applies and the exact statute, with caveats for special property types like homestead or agricultural.

What's an OTC sale?

Over-the-Counter sales are what didn't sell at the initial county auction: the property itself in some states, a tax lien certificate in others (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky and more). In many states the county lists them at a set price (often back taxes + fees) and any qualified buyer can purchase them without competing bids; some states sell them by bid or offer instead, and each state page says which. OTC inventory is typically less competitive but also less curated — DeedFlex flags OTC listings with a badge and surfaces them in the Fresh OTC stream.

What survives the sale? (Liens that don't get wiped out)

Most surviving liens fall into four buckets:

• IRS federal tax liens — 120-day post-sale redemption window (IRS can buy you out at your cost + interest).
• Municipal / code enforcement liens — water bills, demolition fees, blight fines often survive in jurisdictions like Florida, Detroit, Baltimore.
• HOA super-priority liens — Nevada and a few others give HOAs priority over even mortgages.
• Environmental cleanup liens and special taxes — in California, contamination and Mello-Roos special taxes both survive the sale.

DeedFlex flags these on the deal-detail page when our county-data shows a match. Every state page lists the typical survivor liens for that state.

Can I actually lose money on a tax deed?

Yes. Common ways: (1) winning bid exceeds the property's actual value because you missed a comp; (2) surviving liens you didn't catch wipe out your margin; (3) property is condemned, contaminated, or land-locked; (4) the owner redeems and your capital is locked for the redemption period earning only statutory interest. Tax-deed investing is high-yield because it's higher-risk than retail. DeedFlex's job is to surface the risk — yours is to verify it on every parcel.

New to tax deeds — how do most beginners get started?

A common starting point for new investors is three filters:

1. Use the Beginner-Safe stream — single-family / condo, strong verdict, low risk score, no major flagged liens, bid ≤ $25K.
2. Stick to no-redemption deed sales first (for example Arkansas, Michigan, California, Florida tax deed sales, New York) — no capital lock-up after the sale. Check each state page; some sales in the same state do carry a redemption period.
3. Bid only on properties you've physically driven by (or where DeedFlex shows a recent street-view image and county photos line up with the listed condition).

Common pitfalls beginners learn to watch for: out-of-state homestead properties (long redemption), commercial parcels (different rules), and any property where the assessed value is suspiciously below the comp average — that's often a condition issue you can't see from the auction listing.

I forgot my password.

Click Forgot password on the login page. We'll email a reset link that's good for one hour.

Why was I logged out unexpectedly?

DeedFlex allows one active session per account. Logging in on a new device automatically signs you out everywhere else. This is intentional — it keeps your account secure and prevents unauthorized access.

How do I change my email?

Email hello@deedflex.com from your current address with the new email. We'll switch it within one business day.

What plans are available?

Pro — $59/month: Nationwide coverage, unlimited property views, deal scoring, state playbooks, auction calendar, watchlist, email deal alerts, CSV export.

Pro Plus — $200/month: Everything in Pro plus Flexy Autopilot (Flexy checks your saved strategy every day and briefs you on new matches, changes on your watched deals and auctions getting close), 250 owner lookups a month (Pro includes 3) and API access.

See the full pricing page for details.

How does the $59/month plan work?

Pro is $59/month — one flat price, every month. Sign up, pay $59 today, and you get full Pro access immediately. Your subscription renews at $59/mo until you cancel — cancel anytime in two clicks from your account page — no calls.

What payment methods do you accept?

All major credit and debit cards via Authorize.Net. Enterprise plans support invoicing.

Will my card be charged automatically each month?

Yes — your subscription auto-renews monthly until you cancel. We email a receipt every cycle, and you can cancel anytime from your account page.

How do I cancel?

Open your account page, scroll to "Cancel Subscription," and click Cancel. You keep access until the end of your current billing period. Your watchlist and saved deals stay exactly where they are if you come back.

Do you offer refunds?

All charges are final and non-refundable. Your safety net is cancellation: cancel anytime online in two clicks — cancelling stops all future billing immediately and you keep full access through the month you've paid for. You will never be charged after you cancel. If you have a billing concern (charged twice, charged after cancelling, etc.), email hello@deedflex.com with your account email and we'll resolve it within one business day.

What if Authorize.Net charged me after I cancelled?

This shouldn't happen — cancellation flips your subscription off immediately. If it did, email hello@deedflex.com with the transaction date and amount. We'll refund the charge and confirm via email.

How fresh is your data?

Our scrapers pull from county auction sites and aggregator platforms (RealAuction, GovEase, Bid4Assets, ArcGIS) on rolling schedules — most counties refresh every 4 to 24 hours. Listings show a "freshness dot" (green/yellow/red) and the last-verified timestamp.

Do you cover every county in the US?

County-level coverage is expanding monthly — see the state directory for current listing counts. If a specific county is missing, email us and we'll prioritize adding it.

Why does a property I expected to see not appear?

Three common reasons: (1) the auction hasn't been published by the county yet — they typically post 30–60 days before sale; (2) it's between sale cycles and last sale's inventory has rolled off; (3) the county's site changed structure and we're updating our connection to it. If you're sure it should be there, email a link to the county listing and we'll check.

Where do the values on a deal page come from?

From one of three places, and the page always names which:

1. A comparable-sales estimate — built from homes that actually sold near the property. This is the only kind we treat as a real valuation, and the page shows how many sold comps are behind it.
2. The county's own assessment or appraisal — a real record for that exact parcel. It lags the market and is not a sale price, but it is that parcel's number.
3. A Census county-wide median — one figure for an entire county, sitting on every listing in it. It describes an area, not your property. Where we show one, the line underneath it says exactly that and tells you not to bid against it.

If we hold none of those, the field reads Not on file and stays blank. On 2 September 2026 we removed 207,300 assessed values that we could not trace back to a county record; those parcels now read "Not on file" instead of showing a number. A figure you cannot check is worse than an empty box, so we leave the box empty.

Why does this listing have no value, no map pin, or no repair estimate?

Because we do not hold that fact for that parcel, and we will not fill the gap with a guess. Each blank on a deal page now says what is missing and where you can get it yourself — the county assessor for a value or a living area, the county's parcel map for a location. A repair estimate is priced per square foot, so where the county has not published a living area there is no repair number and no maximum bid either.

Why do some states never show sale prices?

Some states do not make the price paid for a property a public record. DeedFlex only says that about a state when two things are true at once: we hold no priced sale anywhere in that state, and we can point to the state’s own statute or official record for it. Today that is Mississippi (PEER Committee Report #526), Montana (MCA 15-7-308) and New Mexico (NMSA 1978 7-38-12.1). Deal pages in those three say so, and no comparable-sales value is offered there.

Everywhere else, a missing sold comparable means only that we do not hold one for that county — it is not a statement about that state’s law. Until 2026-09-03 this page listed thirteen states, including Indiana. That was wrong: Indiana requires a Sales Disclosure Form on every conveyance (IC 6-1.1-5.5) and we hold 120,100 priced Indiana sales. Indiana deal pages now show those comparable sales with no denial beside them.

Always verify with the county before bidding

DeedFlex is a research and analytics tool. Nothing here is investment, legal, financial or tax advice, and our scores are research signals rather than recommendations. Auction dates, opening bids, and parcel details can change between scrapes. Always verify directly with the county clerk's office before placing a deposit or bid.

How is the 0–100 deal score calculated?

Four components: price (opening bid vs assessed/market value), risk (lien stack, flood zone, title complexity, owner-occupancy), location (neighborhood income, comps, vacancy rate), title (clearance time, quiet-title cost, redemption window). Click any deal to see the full score breakdown.

What do the risk flags mean?

Each parcel is flagged for known landmines: IRS lien, HOA arrears, flood zone, code violations, mobile-home titling. Flags are pulled from public county records and our scoring engine. Always confirm with a title abstract before bidding on high-stakes parcels.

The score on a parcel feels wrong. How do I report it?

Email hello@deedflex.com with the parcel ID and what looks off. We log feedback against the scoring model and tune monthly.

How do I save deals to my watchlist?

Click the Save button on any deal card. Saved deals appear under Watchlist in the dashboard sidebar.

How do I set up alerts?

Visit your alerts settings. Saved searches email you new matching deals, at most once a day, on Pro and Pro Plus. Your filters (state, county, score, max bid, property type) are the rule. Pro Plus adds the daily Flexy briefing.

I'm not getting alert emails.

Check your spam folder first. If they're not there, confirm your email is verified in your account page. If it's verified and they're still missing, email hello@deedflex.com.

How do I export deals to a CSV?

Apply your filters in the dashboard, then click Export CSV in the toolbar. You can pick which fields to include (parcel, address, opening bid, score, lien flags, etc.) before exporting.

What's the difference between Pro and Pro Plus exports?

Pro and Pro Plus export up to 50,000 rows per export, as Excel or CSV. Pro includes 5 exports a day; Pro Plus includes 20. If your filter matches more than 50,000 rows, the export tells you how many matched and how many it included, so narrow the filter for the rest.

Is my payment information stored on DeedFlex?

No. All payment processing happens on Authorize.Net's hosted page (PCI-DSS Level 1). DeedFlex never sees or stores your card number, expiration, or CVV.

What information do you collect about me?

Email, name, optional phone (for text alerts, which are coming soon and not sent yet), and your usage of the dashboard. See the privacy policy for full details. We never sell or rent your data.

How do I delete my account?

Open your account page, scroll to "Delete Account," and follow the confirmation flow. Your data is removed within 30 days.