Tax deed sales in Florida

[James Canavan]

Does homestead exemptions affect a tax deed sale in regards to an investor  purchasing at an auction?  

[James Mikel]

Tax Deeds and Homestead Exemption:

When a property owner has homestead exemption in the year in which taxes were unpaid, the tax lien investor is unaffected.  If that lien is unredeemed the resulting tax deed sale will include a 50% of assessed value markup.  This markup is made at the point of sale and will be added to the advertised opening bid posted.  This is a Florida statutory requirement so it is the same in all counties.  In these scenarios the opening bid will reflect the markup and the actual amount owed to the lien investor "tax certificate holder". 

The oddity occurs when the property receives no bid or the lien investor fails to render payment to transfer the tax deed to himself or the tax lien was held by the county.  The property tax deed will then reside on the List of Lands.  During that time, even when homestead exemption is dropped by the property owner, the 50% still resides.  I have found otherwise good and valuable properties on the list that were previously homesteaded.  Some were demolished homes, some were properties bulldozed after a catastrophic event and others where a mobile home was removed.    These properties are ripe for purchase as the actual taxes and accrued interest were in the few hundred dollar range and the properties had utility improvements .  But, the dreaded  50% kills the ability for profit.  Most recently someone called me in regards to a property he found on the LOL, great lot with septic tank and well on property, nice driveway and electric already there.  Problem was the dreaded 50%, while the lot was worth $20,000 with the improvements, the required amount to obtain the tax deed was $45,000.  A relatively new mobile home had been pulled from the property.   My advice was to wait the three years until the property escheated to the county then contact the Board of County Commissioners to locate the division which handles surplus county owned property.