How Does Tax Foreclosure Work In NORTH Carolina?

[Ibrahim Hughes]

Hi all. I was just checking in to some land owned by my deceased grandmother and see that a 2013 tax Bill has not been paid. Although 2014 and 2015 were paid (in New Jersey the oldest tax liens have to be paid off first before new tax bill liens can be redeemed). 

From my basic research, it appears that North Carolina does not sell tax liens to third parties. Instead a lien is placed on the property and if it isn't paid, a foreclosure is done and then the property is put up for public auction. What I'm not clear on, assuming my basic research and Analysis above was correct, are the timeframes involved in the foreclosure and public auction.

How long does it take for someone to stop paying taxes and for a foreclosure to commence? Once the Foreclosure is initiated, how long does it take to go to auction? And it looks like once a property owner loses their property at auction and the sale has been confirmed, there is no Redemption period Available for the property owner to get their property back. Is my analysis correct?