Taxes paid at closing
The lien comes out of the proceeds. Nothing due from you up front.
Any amount owed
One year behind or ten, with a sold lien or without. It still closes.
Straight math
We'll show you what a payment plan costs versus a sale, and say which one wins.
You don't have to pay the taxes before you sell
This is the part that surprises almost everyone. Back taxes are a lien, and liens get paid out of the proceeds at closing, exactly the way a mortgage payoff does. You do not need to come up with the money first.
If the house is worth more than what's owed against it, you walk away with the difference. We've had sellers put off a call for a year because they assumed they had to clear the debt before anyone would buy. They didn't.
Selling is one option, and often not the first one
If you own and occupy the home, Ohio law entitles you to at least one delinquent tax contract, and it can run up to five years. For a lot of owners that's the whole answer, and it's cheaper than selling. The Treasurer's Delinquent Tax Department is at 614-525-3438.
It's also worth checking that the bill itself is right. The Homestead Exemption, the owner-occupancy credit, or a value challenge with the Board of Revision can each reduce what you owe going forward. If one of those solves it, we'll tell you so.
Where selling genuinely helps is when the debt has outgrown what you can carry, and you still have equity worth protecting. Selling on your own timeline keeps that equity. Letting the process finish does not.
If the house is sitting empty, the clock is much shorter
Ohio has a separate, far faster track for property it considers abandoned, and unoccupied is most of what that means. On that track the case goes to the Board of Revision, the redemption window shrinks to 28 days after the ruling, and the property can be transferred straight to a land bank with no sale and no appraisal at all.
That means no proceeds and no equity back, even on a house worth far more than the taxes owed. If you've moved out of a house you're behind on, this is the situation to get ahead of quickly.
Common questions
Can I sell if the county already sold a tax lien on my property?
Yes. A sold certificate is still a lien, and it gets paid off at closing like any other. It does start a twelve-month clock before the certificate holder can foreclose, so the timing matters more than it did before.
What if I owe more in taxes than the house is worth?
Then selling to us probably isn't your answer, and we'll say so rather than waste your time. Depending on the situation, a payment plan, a value challenge, or talking to a lawyer about the options makes more sense. We're happy to talk it through either way.
Will a sale stop the foreclosure?
Paying the debt off ends it, and a closing does that. In Ohio you can redeem right up until the court files the entry confirming the sale, so there's usually more room than people expect. The sooner you start, the more room there is.
Do I need to fix anything first?
No. We buy as-is. Houses with back taxes often have deferred repairs too, and that's already in our number.