News
Press release · November 13, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Another 196 homes worth $45.4 million have tax deed applications filed and no sale date yet, according to HomeSellerCashOffer, a St. Petersburg cash home buyer. Owners can still pay the Tax Collector and keep the home, or sell before the sale.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 13, 2026 — As of Nov. 10, 79 homes in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, with a combined market value of $15.8 million, were scheduled for county tax deed auctions between Nov. 12 and Jan. 7, according to the counties’ auction calendars and Property Appraiser records compiled by HomeSellerCashOffer, a St. Petersburg company that buys houses for cash, including houses facing tax deed auction. Including vacant land and commercial parcels, 109 properties worth $23.4 million were on those calendars.
At a tax deed auction, bidding starts at the opening bid, not at the home’s value. On these lists, the median home is worth $196,582; the median opening bid is $16,240. Florida sets the opening bid at the unpaid taxes, interest and fees, plus half the assessed value for a homestead (Fla. Stat. §197.502). Once the deed is issued, the owner no longer decides who buys the home or for how much. Any amount bid above what is owed is held by the Clerk as surplus; liens are paid first, and the former owner can claim what remains (Fla. Stat. §197.582).
Many owners still have time. Of the 167 properties listed for these sales, 56 had already come off the calendars by Nov. 10, through redemption, cancellation or another reason. On 12 Hillsborough sale days from Aug. 13 to Nov. 5, at least 71% of the 197 listed properties were removed before sale day. An owner can redeem by paying the Tax Collector the amount due at any time before a tax deed is issued, unless the winning bidder has already paid the Clerk in full for the deed (Fla. Stat. §197.472).
The auction calendars show only the properties that already have a sale date. Behind them is a larger group: properties where a tax certificate holder has already applied for a tax deed, but the Clerk has not yet set the sale. HomeSellerCashOffer’s tracking of county Tax Collector records shows 215 such properties in the two counties as of Nov. 11: 181 in Hillsborough and 34 in Pinellas, with a combined market value of $48.1 million. Of those, 196 are homes worth $45.4 million. The list is checked against county records on a rolling basis, so some may have been paid off since their last check. It leaves out properties owned by companies and trusts, so the county totals are higher.
These properties reach the calendars in batches. A certificate holder can apply for a tax deed once two years have passed since April 1 of the year the certificate was issued (Fla. Stat. §197.502). The Clerk then notices, advertises and schedules the sale, a process the Hillsborough County Tax Collector says can take months. Hillsborough has listed an average of 16 properties for each weekly sale since August. Pinellas listed 17 for its October sale, 34 for November and 42 for December.
Waiting costs more. Once a tax deed application is filed, the owner can no longer catch up one year at a time: all outstanding taxes are rolled into one amount that must be paid in full, with interest, costs and charges, to stop it, according to the Pinellas County Tax Collector. In Hillsborough, the application amount accrues interest at 18% a year until the owner redeems or the property is sold, according to that county’s Tax Collector.
“The owners I worry about most aren’t on a calendar yet,” said AL Cakici, owner of HomeSellerCashOffer. “The application is filed, the interest is running, and they think nothing is happening.”
An owner or heir in either group has two common ways to stop the auction: pay the Tax Collector the amount due, or sell the house before the deed is issued so the taxes are paid from the sale.
HomeSellerCashOffer buys houses that are behind on property taxes, have a tax deed application filed, or are scheduled for tax deed auction in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. It makes a written cash offer, usually within 24 hours of seeing the property, pays all closing costs and charges no commissions. Sales typically close in 7 to 21 days through a licensed Florida title company, which pays the back taxes and any liens from the sale proceeds. When a sale date is too close for a normal closing, the company can pay the delinquent taxes first, which stops the auction, and close afterward.
That happened in 2025, when a relative of a Pinellas County owner called one day before a scheduled auction. The company, then operating as Tampete Homes, paid the delinquent taxes before the sale and bought the home through a title company closing in December 2025. The seller tells the story in her own words at homesellercashoffer.com/one-day-from-a-tax-auction.
The company also offers these owners and heirs a free, no-obligation phone call to learn where their property stands: whether an application has been filed, the sale date, the opening bid, how to redeem and, for heirs, whether an estate must be opened first. Its office is at 433 Central Ave, 4th Floor, in downtown St. Petersburg.
“Most owners I talk to don’t know the sale date, the opening bid or how to pay it off,” Cakici said. “Often the answer is to pay the Tax Collector and keep the house, and I tell them that. If selling makes more sense, we buy the house before the auction and the back taxes are paid at closing. We come to you, at the property or wherever is convenient.”
Owners on these lists often hear from several buyers, including HomeSellerCashOffer. Before signing with any of them, check:
The full checklist: how to vet a cash home buyer in Florida.
How HomeSellerCashOffer answers the five checks
Yes. Tampete Homes LLC does business as HomeSellerCashOffer, its registered Florida fictitious name. Contracts are signed by Tampete Homes LLC. Some older listings still show the Tampete Homes name.
Yes. It buys houses in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties that are behind on property taxes, including houses with a tax deed application or a sale date. The sale has to close, or the taxes have to be paid, before the tax deed is issued.
Ask your county Tax Collector whether a tax deed application has been filed on your account, and for the payoff amount. If one has been filed, the Clerk will set a sale date, and the full amount has to be paid to stop it.
Often, yes. Pay the Tax Collector the amount due before the tax deed is issued, unless the winning bidder has already paid the Clerk in full. The Tax Collector’s office gives the exact amount.
Typically 7 to 21 days once the title work is clear. If the sale date is closer than that, the delinquent taxes can be paid first to stop the auction, and the closing follows.
Yes. There’s no cost and no obligation to sell. The point is to make sure owners know what’s going on with their property so they can take the right action.
No. It’s a home buyer, not an agent or broker, and it doesn’t give legal advice. For estate or title questions, talk to a Florida attorney.
HomeSellerCashOffer is a cash home buyer in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its office at 433 Central Ave, 4th Floor. It buys houses, condos, duplexes, small multifamily buildings and land as-is in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, including properties that are behind on taxes or facing a tax deed auction, inherited or in probate, or carrying code enforcement liens. It buys many homes with its own cash; when a vetted partner investor is involved, it says so upfront, in writing, before the seller signs. It pays all closing costs, charges no commissions, typically closes in 7 to 21 days through a licensed Florida title company, and is not a real estate agent or broker. HomeSellerCashOffer is the registered Florida fictitious name of Tampete Homes LLC. Owner AL Cakici has personally purchased or assisted with more than 100 real estate transactions across the country over more than 10 years and is now fully focused on the Tampa Bay area and adjacent counties.
AL Cakici, Owner
HomeSellerCashOffer (Tampete Homes LLC)
433 Central Ave, 4th Floor, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 258-3540 · info@homesellercashoffer.com
Press kit: homesellercashoffer.com/press
This release is general information, not legal advice.
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