Resources
How foreclosure, tax forfeiture and distressed property actually work, written from official records rather than repeated from other blogs.
Other sections
Sheriff sales, deal math, and what the outcome data shows.
Your deadline, your options, and free housing counselling first.
Observed Minnesota outcomes, published with their sample sizes.
Plain definitions of every term on a foreclosure notice or tax statement.
Cap rate, DSCR, ARV, cash-on-cash and hard money.
Buying distressed property
- Probate homes for sale: how an estate's house reaches the market
Probate homes for sale explained: who can sell an estate's house, when, and at what price. Minnesota estate sales close at a $190,000 median in 181 days.
5 min read - Buying foreclosed homes in Minnesota: how to, with numbers for each path
Buying foreclosed homes in Minnesota: state records show 77% sell direct from the owner, not the bank. Prices, cash shares, timing and the redemption window.
6 min read
Foreclosures by county
- St Paul foreclosures and vacant buildings — the Ramsey County list
St Paul foreclosures and the Saint Paul vacant building list from the city registry: 392 buildings, 93 vacant five years or more, plus Ramsey sheriff sales.
5 min read - Duluth MN foreclosures — St. Louis County sheriff sale list and redemption
Duluth MN foreclosures and St. Louis County sheriff sales by month: 46 notices tracked, 22 scheduled, 23 in redemption, and Duluth against the Iron Range.
7 min read - Rochester MN foreclosures — Olmsted County sheriff sales and tax list
Rochester MN foreclosures and Olmsted County distress by the numbers — 502 parcels on the delinquent tax list, 54% already paid, and tracked sheriff sales.
5 min read - Rochester MN foreclosures — Olmsted County sheriff sales and tax list
Rochester MN foreclosures and Olmsted County distress by the numbers — 502 parcels on the delinquent tax list, 54% already paid, and tracked sheriff sales.
5 min read - Washington County MN foreclosures — sheriff sale list and redemption dates
Washington County MN foreclosures by month, the current sheriff sale list, homes in redemption right now, and the 24% tracked redemption rate.
6 min read - Foreclosed homes MN — Minnesota foreclosures by county, sheriff sale list
Foreclosed homes MN by county — 1,725 sheriff sales tracked in 12 months, 1,007 in redemption now, MN foreclosure listings and how each county publishes them.
8 min read - Minneapolis foreclosures — sheriff sales, redemption dates and vacancy
Minneapolis foreclosures by the numbers — 407 sheriff sales in 12 months, 233 homes in redemption now, plus 311 registered vacant and condemned buildings.
6 min read - Hennepin County foreclosures — sheriff sale list and redemption dates
Hennepin County foreclosures by month, the current sheriff sale list, homes in redemption right now, county-published expiry dates, and the redemption rate.
7 min read - Dakota County foreclosures (MN) — upcoming sheriff sales and current list
Dakota County foreclosures MN — sales by month, the upcoming sheriff sale schedule, how many homes are in redemption right now, and the tracked redemption rate.
6 min read - Anoka County foreclosures (MN) — sheriff sale list and redemption windows
Anoka County MN foreclosures by month, the current sheriff sale list, how many homes are in redemption right now, and the tracked redemption rate.
6 min read
Facing foreclosure
- How to stop foreclosure in Minnesota — your options
How to stop a foreclosure in Minnesota — reinstating your loan, postponing the sheriff's sale, loan modification, selling before the sale, and free help.
5 min read - Minnesota foreclosure timeline — from missed payment to sheriff's sale
The Minnesota foreclosure timeline step by step — from missed payments to the sheriff's sale to the six-month redemption period, and how long each stage takes.
5 min read
How it works
- What is an REO property?
REO means the lender took the property back at its own auction. What that means for price, condition and title, and how it compares to buying at auction.
11 min read - Tax deed vs tax lien states
Some states sell the unpaid tax debt, others sell the property. Which states do which, what you actually own after the sale, and how long redemption runs.
12 min read - Short sale vs foreclosure
Both end with losing the house, but credit damage, deficiency liability and timing differ. Plus the option most homeowners never hear about.
10 min read - The risks of buying a short sale home
A short sale looks like a discount and often is not. The approval that never comes, the liens nobody mentioned, and six ways it fails.
11 min read - Foreclosure redemption periods by state
Which states give a foreclosed owner time to redeem, how long, and what recorded outcomes show about how often they actually do. All 50 states.
11 min read - Pre foreclosure: what it means, where listings come from, owner options
Pre foreclosure explained: the window between a missed payment and the auction, what pre foreclosure listings contain, timelines by state, contact rules.
11 min read - How to find out who owns a property
Ownership is public record in every state. Which office to search, what each one shows, and what to do when the owner is an LLC or a trust.
12 min read - How to find distressed properties
How to find distressed properties through public records — ten record types, what each signal means, and 8,500 Minnesota signals Govire reads, counted by type.
14 min read - How to buy a house at auction
Foreclosure, tax and estate auctions each work differently. What you actually need on the day, what survives the sale, and what the outcome data says you get.
11 min read - Sheriff sale: what it is, how the process works, and what happens after
What a sheriff sale is, how the sheriff sale process runs, which states give a redemption period, and what 319 tracked outcomes show happens after the auction.
13 min read - Deed in lieu of foreclosure
Handing the deed back ends the foreclosure without an auction. When lenders accept one, what it does to credit, and the release you must get in writing first.
10 min read - Buying probate property
Probate sales differ from normal purchases and by state. Who can sign, what court approval means, and why some inherited property never reaches the market.
11 min read
Tax-forfeited land
- Minnesota delinquent property tax list — what it holds, what happens next
The Minnesota delinquent property tax list with county data: 3,113 Hennepin parcels by years behind, and 54% of Olmsted's January list paid by September.
5 min read - Tax forfeited land MN — parcels about to forfeit, county lists, how to buy
Tax forfeited land MN by county — 335 parcels in the final window before forfeiture, Hennepin's 3,113 delinquent parcels, Ramsey's auction list, how to buy.
7 min read - Hennepin County tax forfeited land — delinquent list and forfeited parcels
Hennepin County tax forfeited land by the numbers — 3,113 on the delinquent tax list, 185 forfeited to the state, 180 held for sale, and Tyler v. Hennepin.
5 min read