Your first tax sale in Cobb County, GA

Georgia is a redeemable deed state. The winning bidder gets a deed to the property, but the owner can still buy it back ("redeem") for a set time by repaying your bid plus a premium or penalty set by law. The state data lists the return as: 20% first year, +10% each later year. Redemption period: 12 months, then until notice of foreclosure. You make money either from that premium when the owner redeems, or, if they don't and you complete the steps to end their redemption rights, from the property itself. Title may still need extra legal work before you can sell or insure it.

What you actually get

A tax deed that the owner can still redeem. Until the redemption rights end you don't fully control the property, and the owner (or a tenant) may still be living there.

How you make money

The redemption premium if the owner redeems (state data: 20% first year, +10% each later year), or the property if they don't and you complete the legal steps.

Redemption period

12 months, then until notice of foreclosure

The high bidder receives a tax deed, but the owner (or anyone with an interest in the property) can redeem it within 12 months of the sale, and after that until the buyer forecloses the right of redemption by serving the statutory notice. To redeem, they pay the bid, any taxes the buyer paid after the sale, and a premium of 20% for the first year or part of a year, plus 10% for each year after that.

Sources: Georgia tax sale rules (LienDesk) · Guide: How Georgia tax sales work · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-1 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 9-13-161 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-40 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-42 ↗

Upcoming Cobb County sales on our calendar:

• Tuesday, November 3, 2026Redeemable deedThis plan is for this sale

  Cobb County, GA tax sale →

  In person · In person, Superior Court Plaza, Marietta, 10am–4pm

  Last verified Nov 1, 2026 · Official source: cobbtax.gov ↗

Sources: Official sale page (cobbtax.gov) ↗ · Georgia auction calendar

How to register

Pre-register before sale day; bidder cards 9–10am with photo ID

Deposit / funds

cash or certified check in full at the end of the sale

Where

In person, Superior Court Plaza, Marietta, 10am–4pm

Official page

cobbtax.gov ↗

Terms as published: “Pre-register before sale day; bidder cards 9–10am with photo ID; cash or certified check in full at the end of the sale; unbid parcels re-offered 3pm”

• Find the registration deadline on the official page and put it in your calendar. Some counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.
• Expect to show a photo ID, and some counties ask for a W-9 or a deposit. LienDesk hasn't verified this county's paperwork, so check the official page.

Sources: Official sale page (cobbtax.gov) ↗

We don't have a parcel list for this sale yet.

Parcel list: Not verified yet — check the county's official page ↗

See Georgia parcel lists we do have →

Due-diligence checklist, for every parcel you might bid on

• □Look at it. Street View and satellite view at minimum; drive by if you can. Confirm the parcel number matches the building you think it does.
• □Landlocked, sliver and unbuildable lots. Check the county GIS map for road access, odd shapes, drainage strips and lots too small to build on. These are cheap for a reason.
• □Mobile homes. A mobile home on the lot may be separate personal property and not included in the sale. Check how the county lists it.
• □IRS and other federal liens. Federal tax liens can survive a tax sale, and the IRS can have its own right to redeem after a sale. Search the county's lien records for the owner.
• □Code violations and demolition orders. Ask the city or county code enforcement office. Fines and demolition liens can follow the property.
• □Environmental problems. Former gas stations, dry cleaners, junkyards, wetlands and flood zones can cost far more than the bid. Check the FEMA flood map and the state environmental agency's site lists.
• □HOA or condo dues. Unpaid association dues and assessments may be owed by whoever ends up with the property.
• □Occupancy. If someone lives there, getting possession may mean an eviction or court action, and the owner often still has redemption rights.
• □Title search. Mortgages, judgments and other liens may or may not be wiped out, depending on the state and the sale. A title search (or a title company's opinion) before you bid is the only way to know.
• □Is it still on the list?. Owners pay up until sale day, so lists shrink. Check the county's final list the day before.

Sources: FEMA flood map ↗ · Parcel lists on LienDesk

Highest bid wins. Bidding usually opens at a minimum (often the taxes, interest and costs owed) and the highest bidder wins. Every extra dollar you bid is money you have to pay, and in many states a big overbid can change what you get back if the owner redeems, so set your maximum before the sale and stop there.

• Decide your total budget first, then a maximum for each parcel. Write the maximums down before the sale starts.
• Your maximum bid should leave room for everything after the sale: title work or a quiet title action, back taxes, repairs, holding costs, and selling costs.
• Keep cash in reserve. Winning more than you can pay for can cost you your deposit and your bidding rights.

Open the Analyze This Investment calculator

The calculator is also in each parcel's Comps & ARV panel, prefilled with that parcel's amount and estimated value. Results are estimates, not a promise of profit.

Sources: Georgia tax sale rules (LienDesk) · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-1 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 9-13-161 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-40 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-42 ↗

• □Check the official page the morning of the sale: sales get postponed or cancelled, and parcels get pulled when owners pay.
• □Arrive early with photo ID, your registration confirmation and the exact form of payment the county accepts.
• □Have funds ready the way the county wants them: cash or certified check in full at the end of the sale.
• □Bring (or open) your researched list with a maximum for each parcel. Don't bid on anything you haven't researched.
• □Stick to your maximums, even when the room (or the screen) gets competitive.
• □Save every receipt, confirmation and certificate or deed number you get.

Sale: Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · In person, Superior Court Plaza, Marietta, 10am–4pm

Sources: Official sale page (cobbtax.gov) ↗

Payment deadline

Not verified yet — check the county's official page ↗

What you receive

A tax deed that the owner can still redeem. Until the redemption rights end you don't fully control the property, and the owner (or a tenant) may still be living there.

Redemption

12 months, then until notice of foreclosure

• In Georgia the owner can redeem within 12 months of the sale, and after that until you foreclose the right of redemption by serving the statutory notice.
• A tax deed often isn't enough for a title insurer. Many buyers file a quiet title action (a court case that confirms ownership) before they sell or refinance; ask a local attorney when you can start.
• Keep paying any later property taxes so someone else can't buy a lien or deed on top of yours, and keep records of every cost.
• Don't move in, change locks or start work until you have the legal right to possession.

Talk to an attorney before you foreclose a right of redemption, apply for a deed, file quiet title, or deal with an occupant. Attorney listings are paid advertising, not referrals.

Sources: Official sale page (cobbtax.gov) ↗ · Georgia tax sale rules (LienDesk) · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-1 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 9-13-161 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-40 ↗ · O.C.G.A. § 48-4-42 ↗