Highlands County tax deed sales

Verified

Highlands County (county seat Sebring) sells tax deeds online only, run by the Highlands County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller, Jerome N. Kaszubowski on RealAuction at highlands.realtaxdeed.com. The Clerk states tax deed sales are advertised in the Highlands News-Sun once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to the sale.. Beginning January 2026, all tax deed sales are conducted online on designated Wednesdays starting at 10:00 a.m.

Next sale on the calendar: Designated Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m., as scheduled on the auction calendar. The Clerk publishes the designated Wednesday pattern rather than one named next date, so no single date is claimed here.

No official total published. No current Highlands County tax deed parcel count is published on the official sources.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Designated Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m., as scheduled on the auction calendar
Sale pattern	Beginning January 2026, all tax deed sales are conducted online on designated Wednesdays starting at 10:00 a.m.
Format	Online only
Platform	RealAuction at highlands.realtaxdeed.com. The Clerk states tax deed sales are advertised in the Highlands News-Sun once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to the sale.
Selling office	Highlands County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller, Jerome N. Kaszubowski
The list	Yes. The Clerk publishes a Lands Available page: properties for which there are no bidders at the tax deed sale, and for which the certificate holder fails to pay the amounts due for issuance of a tax deed within 30 days after the sale, are entered on the list entitled Lands Available for Taxes. During the first 90 days after the property is placed on the list, the county may purchase the land for the opening bid, which includes delinquent taxes, recording fees and documentary stamps, or may waive its rights; after the 90 day period, any person, the county, or any other governmental unit may purchase the property. The list from January 2026 forward is at highlands.realtdm.com, and payoff amounts come from the Tax Deeds Division.

Sources: Highlands County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller, Tax Deeds. Highlands County Clerk, Tax Deed Sale Rules. Highlands County Clerk, Lands Available. 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 Highlands 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 Highlands 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 Highlands County

To be eligible to bid at an auction, you must register online prior to the auction at the Online Auction Site and satisfy the advance deposit requirements. There is no fee for registration.

All tax deed bidders must place a deposit of $200.00 or 5 percent of the highest bid, whichever is greater, for each property they may be bidding upon during the tax deed sale, and the deposit is applied towards the final payment of the successful bid. Advance deposits may be made online through the electronic auction website at least three full business days before the auction, and over the counter deposits may be made by cashier's check, money order or cash presented to the Tax Deeds department by 2:00 p.m. the day before the auction. Personal checks will not be accepted.

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, Highlands County	All tax deed bidders must place a deposit of $200.00 or 5 percent of the highest bid, whichever is greater, for each property they may be bidding upon during the tax deed sale, and the deposit is applied towards the final payment of the successful bid. Advance deposits may be made online through the electronic auction website at least three full business days before the auction, and over the counter deposits may be made by cashier's check, money order or cash presented to the Tax Deeds department by 2:00 p.m. the day before the auction. Personal checks will not be accepted.
Balance due	Final payment must be received by 4:30 p.m. the next business day after the sale, and may be made by cashier's check, money order, cash or wire transfer; a wire transfer must be received by the Clerk bank by 2:00 p.m. the next business day after the sale. Failure to pay the full balance by 4:30 p.m. the next business day after the sale results in forfeiture, the nonrefundable deposit is applied towards readvertising and resale of the property within 30 days, and default bidders are barred from participating in future tax deed sales for a period of six months.
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 Highlands 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. Yes. The Clerk publishes a Lands Available page: properties for which there are no bidders at the tax deed sale, and for which the certificate holder fails to pay the amounts due for issuance of a tax deed within 30 days after the sale, are entered on the list entitled Lands Available for Taxes. During the first 90 days after the property is placed on the list, the county may purchase the land for the opening bid, which includes delinquent taxes, recording fees and documentary stamps, or may waive its rights; after the 90 day period, any person, the county, or any other governmental unit may purchase the property. The list from January 2026 forward is at highlands.realtdm.com, and payoff amounts come from the Tax Deeds Division.

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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