We buy houses in Walton County, FL

Walton County has held foreclosure sales online since March 4, 2009. Sales run Monday through Friday, except legal holidays, at 11:00 a.m. Central time on the RealForeclose site.

Since August 17, 2015, the lender, not the Clerk, sends the sale notice to a newspaper published in Walton County. It runs once a week for two weeks in a row.

Here is how the sale itself works:

• bidders put down 5 percent of their bid before the sale
• the winner pays the rest by 4:00 p.m. Central time that day
• if nobody objects, the Clerk can issue title 10 full days after the certificate of sale.

A sale marked cancelled online may still go ahead. That happens if the Clerk's fees are paid and proof of publication is filed before 11:00 a.m.

You can still stop the sale by paying the amount in the judgment. That right lasts until the Clerk files the certificate of sale, or a later time if the judgment says so (Fla. Stat. 45.0315).

A real estate attorney can confirm where your case stands.

Paying early earns a discount in Walton County:

• 4 percent by November 30
• 3 percent by December 31
• 2 percent by January 31
• 1 percent by the end of February.

March 31 is the last day with no penalty. On April 1, unpaid real estate tax turns delinquent.

The Tax Collector then lists unpaid parcels in the DeFuniak Herald for three weeks. The cost of the ads is added to your bill.

On or before June 1, the Tax Collector holds an online tax certificate sale. Investors bid the interest rate down from 18 percent.

A certificate is a lien, not a sale of your land. But two years after April 1 of the year it was issued, the holder may apply for a tax deed (Fla. Stat. 197.502). If no one applies, the certificate is cancelled seven years after it was issued.

You can redeem by paying the tax, interest and costs until a tax deed is issued. The window closes early if a bidder has already paid the Clerk in full for the deed (Fla. Stat. 197.472).

Your Walton tax bill is not one rate. Each taxing body sets its own millage, so check your own bill for the total.

A Florida homestead takes up to $25,000 off assessed value for all taxes. An added exemption applies to value over $50,000 for taxes other than school taxes (Fla. Stat. 196.031). You file with the Property Appraiser by March 1 (Fla. Stat. 196.011).

Save Our Homes caps a homestead's yearly rise at 3 percent or inflation, whichever is lower. After a sale, the value resets on the next January 1 (Fla. Stat. 193.155).

Struggling to pay? The Tax Collector offers a homestead tax deferral. You may put off tax above 5 percent of household income, or above 3 percent at age 65 or older.

Other rules apply. For example, the mortgage may not be more than 70 percent of assessed value. You apply each year by January 31, and the deferred tax becomes a lien on the home.

Florida's deed tax is 70 cents per $100 of the price (Fla. Stat. 201.02). By our math, that is $1,750 on a $250,000 sale.

Near the Gulf, the Coastal Construction Control Line changes the rules. Seaward of that line, the county will not permit any work, even repairs, until the state DEP signs off.

Homes and additions there must sit on pilings. Plans must be built to stand up to a 100 year storm.

Do you rent your home to visitors? Short term rentals must register with the county each year. Since February 1, 2025, the fee for an individual owner is $300 per property. Renting without it costs $500 a day.

The owner also collects the county bed tax and pays it to the Clerk. The Clerk says the county has no deal with any rental site to collect it for you.

Each bed tax return is late if sent after the 20th of the next month. The penalty is 10 percent of the tax or $50, whichever is more.

A mobile home fixed to land you own can have its separate title retired (Fla. Stat. 319.261). You record the title, the legal description and a sworn statement with the Clerk.