Before the Tax Sale - What you need to know

Thank you for your interest in Beaufort County's Delinquent Tax Sale. The tax sale is an in-person, open auction held every year on the first Monday in October at the Buckwalter Recreation Center in Bluffton. It is the forced collection of real property taxes in accordance with South Carolina State Statute 12-51-50.

Bidders must register in advance of the sale, either online or in person at one of our office locations. Registration opens on the first Tuesday in September and closes at noon on Friday, October 4, 2024. There is a non-refundable $50 bidder registration fee. 

We want our bidders to have a great experience and strongly encourage you to research every property that you intend to bid on. To help you do that, we provide several online resources for your convenience and success.

Helpful Hints!

A tax sale and a foreclosure sale are two separate auctions and performed for different purposes. The Treasurer’s Office does not handle foreclosures. If you need information about foreclosure sales, please visit the Master in Equity’s website.

Prior to the auction, all real and personal property must be advertised. The list will be published in local newspapers and available online at the beginning of September in accordance with South Carolina State Statute 12-51-40(d). The final list for auction is published online the day before the auction.

Properties are advertised and auctioned in alphabetical order according to the defaulting owner's last name or company name as listed in Beaufort County’s tax system.  If an owner has multiple properties being auctioned, the properties will be advertised and auctioned in numerical order by Property Identification Number (PIN).

Research and Resources

This year's auction list is available online and updated regularly leading up to the tax sale, with the final list being published the weekend before the auction.

Past tax sale and delinquency data provides tax sale data for the past two years and redemption data for the past four years.

Real property information contains useful information such as the property identification number (PIN), property address, value, and property class.

The delinquency map visually displays delinquent real property throughout the county and their approximate location, address, and other useful information.

Beaufort County's GIS Mapping visually displays real property throughout the county, their approximate location and approximate boundary lines and other useful information.

The Beaufort County Register of Deeds maintains records of property deeds, mortgages, and other liens.

The Beaufort County Assessor’s Office may be able to help you identify what the property is used for if there are any existing structures and other useful information.

If it is your first time, get an idea of what the auction is like by watching a previous auction here.

Last, but not least, take some time to review the documents you will be asked to sign on the day of the sale to ensure a smooth check-in process.

Historical Data

Click to download.⇣

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