What do you check before bidding on a Broward tax deed house? (4210 SW 20 St, Oct 26)

Question

I'm in Coral Springs and have been reading through the Broward tax deed list for the October 26 sale. One that caught my eye: 4210 SW 20 St, Fort Lauderdale 33317 (folio 504113-04-0670), a 1958 3/3 single-family. Opening bid on the county listing was $33,771, and the 2026 county just value is $536,160. Public records also show a certificate of title in April 2022, followed by a distressed sale that August.

That gap makes me cautious, not excited. For those of you who bid in Florida: what's on your checklist before bidding on a house like this? Title search, occupancy, a drive-by, something else first? And what has burned you?

Igor Ganapolsky · Answer

Thanks Ashish, that's a really useful point and an easy one to miss. On this property the just value is $536,160, so if the assessed value on the current record is well below that, the first full-year bill after taking title could look nothing like what's on the delinquent roll. For anyone else reading, I'd add two things to the checklist: see whether a homestead exemption is on the current record, since that comes off at transfer too, and build the post-reassessment tax into your holding-cost math, not just the opening bid. Appreciate you chiming in.

Ashish Acharya · Answer

Igor, fellow Floridian here. One thing to add on the numbers side: don't underwrite off the current tax bill. Florida's assessment cap resets on a change of ownership, so the property gets reassessed at market value as of the January 1 after you take title. Pull up the property appraiser's record and compare the assessed value to the just value. That gap is roughly how much your taxable value could jump, before any homestead exemption if you plan to live there.

Feel free to DM me, I’d be happy to send over a few resources that may be useful when evaluating the tax and financial side of an acquisition like this.

What do you check before bidding on a Broward tax deed house? (4210 SW 20 St, Oct 26)

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