Tax sale land research tools Find it. Screen it. Price it. Bid it.
Parsell makes building your short list as easy as clicking a button, with a price and a max bid for every parcel.
Free to browse, no account needed. Your first report is on us.
Free tax sale map, parcel data and overlays
Browse every listing without an account. Sign up free for parcel summaries, overlays, filters, the auction calendar and one Quick look report.
Tax deed, tax lien and OTC listings on one map
County rosters on one map, every pin priced with the opening bid or the county's asking price.
- Tax deed auction
- Tax lien auction
- OTC land
- OTC lien
A parcel summary on every parcel
Click any parcel, listed or not, for the owner, property lines, acreage, address, assessed land and building value, zoning, land use, sales history and neighboring owners, plus the Parsell Estimate and how the opening bid compares to it. Listed parcels add flood, wetland and slope breakdowns. There is no monthly limit on summaries.
Free flood zone, wetland, soil and utility overlays
Free on every parcel, no credit card. Turn on the layers that decide whether you can build, from the agencies that publish them.
- Water
- FEMA flood zonesNWI wetlandsWetland setbacksStreamsWell logs
- Land
- SlopeSSURGO soilsZoningPublic land
- Utilities
- SewerElectricGasWater serviceSeptic records
- Hazards
- Wildfire hazardFire perimetersBurn scarsSuperfundBrownfieldsState cleanup sites
Filters for flood, wetlands, road access and price
Screen out the parcels you'd never buy before you open a single one.
- Deal
- Sale typeState and countyPricePrice vs. Parsell EstimateAcreageAuction date
- Site
- Bare land or buildableRoad accessDistance to a roadSlopeZoning
- Risk
- Flood zoneWetlandsNear a Superfund siteRestricted groundwater
Road, USDA aerial and USGS topo base maps
Switch between a street map, USDA aerial photography and USGS topographic maps on any parcel.
- Pierce CountyNov 9
- Spokane CountyDec 7
- Thurston CountyJan 11
County auction calendar
Auction dates for every county Parsell tracks, with the properties you track alongside them and a reminder for anything in the next 14 days. Free accounts track up to 3 properties.
- Road access. Fronts S Brooks Rd, 34 ft from the line.
- Flood zone. None. Nearest FEMA Zone A is 1.3 miles off.
- Wetlands. None on the parcel. A stream channel 1,200 ft south-west.
- Estimate
- $138,065
- Max bid
- $41,284
One free Quick look report
Run one Quick look report on any parcel you choose, with the hazard screen, the Parsell Estimate and a max bid. It's one per verified phone number, for the life of the account.
Rosters kept current
County lists are re-checked on a schedule. When a county drops a parcel from its sale, usually because the owner paid the taxes, it comes off the map.
Land due diligence reports
Run a report on any parcel: a tax deed, a tax lien, over-the-counter land or land that isn't for sale. Each one is researched from county, state and federal records.
Every report includes
- The county recordOwner, legal description, parcel boundary, auction date and opening bid when it's on a roster, assessed value history, tax status and delinquency history, last sale and sales history.
- A hazard screenWetlands and their setback buffer, FEMA flood zone, how much of the land is gentle enough to build on, road access or landlocked, distance to the nearest EPA Superfund site, restricted groundwater areas, county building moratoriums, zoning and minimum lot size.
- The Parsell Estimate and a max bidA value range for the land, and the most to bid for the return you want.
- A plain-English summaryWritten from the report's findings, so you can read the verdict in a minute.
- PDF and multi-parcel reportsDownload any report as a PDF, and combine up to 25 parcels in one report.
Quick look
First one freeA one-page screen that answers whether a parcel is worth a closer look.
- Free
- 1, no card; then 5 for $4.99
- Bidder
- 20 a month, extras 10 for $4.99
- Pro
- 75 a month, extras 25 for $7.99
- Investor
- 300 a month, extras 50 for $9.99
- The county record: owner, boundary, assessed value, tax and sales history
- The hazard screen: flood, wetlands, slope, road access, Superfund and zoning
- The Parsell Estimate as a value range
- A max bid for the return you want
- A plain-English summary and a PDF
Due diligence
For a parcel you're planning to bid on: can you build, what is it worth, and what comes with the title.
- Free
- $19.99 each
- Bidder
- 3 a month, extras $9.99
- Pro
- 15 a month, extras $4.99
- Investor
- 40 a month, extras $2.99
- Everything in a Quick look
- Whether the zoning allows a house, plus setbacks, height limits and outbuilding rules
- Septic feasibility from soils, slope and setbacks
- Electric, gas, water and sewer providers and how to connect, and the school district
- Comparable recent sales nearby and a market value built from them
- Who owns the lots around it, and nearby EPA-listed sites
- Recorder documents for the parcel: the current deed, liens, tax liens and deeds of trust and which have a release, easements and deed restrictions, and probate records
- Which liens survive the tax sale under that state's law and which the sale wipes out
Full report
Everything Parsell can find on a parcel, including a site analysis from the air.
- Free
- $39.99 each
- Bidder
- $24.99 each
- Pro
- 10 a month, extras $9.99
- Investor
- 100 a month, extras $4.99
- Everything in Due diligence, with up to 10 comparable sales and the full chain of title
- Land cover, buildings and ponds traced from aerial imagery (beta)
- Driveways, power lines and utility equipment (beta)
- Aerial imagery back to 2010 and what changed on the land (beta)
- Highest and best use: keep, split, farm, timber or solar, with value ranges (beta)
Site analysis from the air
BetaOn a Full report, Parsell traces the parcel's ground cover on the latest USDA aerial, compares it with the oldest aerial to show what changed on the land, and checks what it finds against the rest of the report.
Comparable sales, ranked and mapped
Due diligence and Full reports find recorded sales of land like yours nearby, rank them by how closely they match and build a market value from them. The Parsell Estimate is shown against the lowest and highest comp so you can see where it sits.
- Recorded sales from the county, with transfers that weren't a market sale screened out.
- Matched on land type, acreage, vacant or built on, distance and how recent the sale is.
- The search starts close and widens until it has enough sales, and the report says how far it looked.
- Every comp is numbered the same on the map, the price bar and the table, with sale date, price, acres, price per acre and distance.
- Value from comps
- $166,041 – $231,932
- Average sale
- $190,603
- Searched within
- 3 mi
| # | Sold | Price | Acres | Per acre | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 9, 2022Land | $234,900 | 9.9 | $23,783 | 0.0 mi |
| 2 | Jul 28, 2023Land | $200,000 | 10.1 | $19,853 | 0.5 mi |
| 3 | Jan 31, 2019Land | $80,000 | 9.9 | $8,062 | 0.0 mi |
| 4 | Feb 20, 2025Land | $270,000 | 10.1 | $26,695 | 2.1 mi |
| 5 | Mar 26, 2025Land | $230,000 | 10.0 | $23,030 | 2.4 mi |
| 6 | Dec 3, 2025Land | $200,000 | 10.0 | $19,991 | 1.8 mi |
| 7 | Apr 10, 2025Land | $160,000 | 9.7 | $16,479 | 1.5 mi |
| 8 | Feb 27, 2025Land | $160,000 | 9.7 | $16,487 | 1.6 mi |
| 9 | Jan 16, 2025Land | $196,130 | 11.2 | $17,476 | 1.0 mi |
| 10 | Oct 8, 2024Land | $175,000 | 9.9 | $17,708 | 2.3 mi |
Due diligence shows the top 3 comps and a Full report up to 10. How many a county can supply depends on the sale records it publishes.
Highest and best use, worked out for you
On a Full report, Parsell works out the most valuable legal use of the land. It measures the parcel, screens every use the zoning and the site could allow (keep it, split it, build on it, farm it, log it or lease it for solar), values the ones that fit and ranks them.
- Measured from the land: acres, slope, forest and tillable ground, road frontage, power lines and how built up the area is.
- Checked against the zoning: what the district allows and how many lots or homes it permits.
- Valued from local sales: an end value for each use, before development costs.
- Ranked by AI from Parsell's figures and checked by a second AI, with what helps, what limits and what to confirm for each use.
The highest and best use of this property is full subdivision for single-family residential development. The site has an approved preliminary plat for 42 lots, which aligns with the Low Density Residential zoning and the established residential character of the area.
- 16.6 ac
- 5.6 ac forest
- Zoning LDR: 1 home per 0.125 ac
- 125 ft road frontage
- 115 kV line under 0.1 mi
- Urban setting
- 11.7 ac over 25% slope
Best use
Full subdivision
$3.61M – $7.08M
End value, before development costs
The property has an approved preliminary plat for 42 single-family lots, and engineering is currently underway. The Low Density Residential zoning and surrounding dense housing make this the most productive and financially feasible use.
What helps
- Approved preliminary plat for 42 lots plus an additional bonus lot
- 59 lots of 0.138 ac after 20% road loss
- Urban setting with 1,160 houses per sq mi nearby
- Nearby parcels are small (median 0.25 ac)
- Zoned Low Density Residential
What limits
- 11.7 acres of steep slopes over 25%
- Septic is likely infeasible, requiring public sewer
What to confirm
- Subdivision approval, water and septic or sewer for each lot
- Final engineering and plat approval with the county
- Sewer and water connection costs with local utility districts
Options to confirm with a local professional, not an appraisal.
AI land search in plain English
Describe the land you want the way you'd say it out loud. Smart search is an AI assistant on the map: it turns your words into exact filters, checks what's left, and answers questions about any parcel you open.
- Bidder
- 30 a month AI messages
- Pro
- 150 a month AI messages
- Investor
- 500 a month AI messages
How a search runs
- 1
Describe the land
You describe the land in your own words.
- 2
Count, then set the map
It counts how many listings match before it changes anything, then sets the area and the filters on the map.
- 3
Search and check
It runs the search and has AI check the listings that are left against anything a filter can't express, parcel by parcel.
- 4
Ask about a property
Open a property and ask about it. It reads the report, looks at the aerial, and measures the lot.
- 5
Run a report
When an answer needs a report, it offers a Run report button. Your chats are kept in a history beside the map.
- Buildable
- Over 5 acres
- Under $10,000
- Road access
- Washington
- No flood zone
Max bid calculator for tax sales
Max bid is the most you can pay at auction and still make the return you want. Parsell works it out for every listing on the map, from your own numbers.
It starts from the Parsell Estimate (low, middle or high end of the range), applies your value rules, takes off your selling cost, deal costs and holding costs, applies your margin curve and then any dollar rules. Every input is shown, so you can see what drives the number.
Spokane County, WA, on the default settings. Every input is yours to change.
- Bidding style: Conservative, Balanced, Aggressive, or a margin curve you shape yourself.
- Your costs: selling cost (10% by default), deal costs ($5,000 by default), yearly holding cost and how long you'll hold.
- "Don't bid when" switches: wetland over a share you choose, flood zone or floodway, no road access, near or on a Superfund site, slope over a limit, too little usable land, an existing building, or a restricted groundwater area.
- Rules: skip a parcel, subtract or add a dollar amount, adjust per acre or per unit, or scale the value by a percentage, when conditions you choose are met.
- Formula rules on Pro and Investor, for your own math.
- Saved presets, and different settings for each state or county you bid in.
- Tax lien settings per state: interest rate, months to redemption, deed costs and a worst-case cap, with a 10% target return by default.
- A Max bid assistant that explains the number and changes your settings in plain English.
| By plan | Bidder | Pro | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saved max bids | 3 | 25 | Unlimited |
| Rules running at once | 10 | 40 | 40 |
| Formula rules | — | ||
| Your own presets | 10 | 30 | 30 |
| Settings by state or county | 10 | 100 | Unlimited |
| Max bid assistant | Uses AI chat messages | Uses AI chat messages | Uses AI chat messages |
Land financing through a third-party lender
Free on every planParsell offers financing through an independent third-party lender. Parsell isn't a lender and doesn't make loans. Every report ends with a short request form: your name, phone, email and what you'd like to finance. Parsell passes it to the lender, who reviews it and gets in touch. Requesting is free and doesn't commit you to a loan. The lender sets the terms and makes every lending decision.
What paid plans add
Plans start at $19.99 a month. Each one adds report allowances and the tools below.
Due diligence and Full reports
Comparable sales, title and lien review, buildability and septic, utilities, and on Full reports a site analysis from aerial imagery and a highest-and-best-use estimate. Included allowances each month, with extras at your plan's price.
AI Smart search and assistant
Describe the land you want in plain English. Smart search counts the matches, sets the area and filters, runs the search and works the map for you. Open a property and it answers about that lot: it reads the report, looks at the aerial, measures wetlands, streams and flood zones on the lot, and helps you set up Max bid.
Max bid on every listing
The most to bid and still hit your return, shown on every listing, built from your own costs, margins and rules.
Google satellite, historical imagery and Street View
High-resolution satellite, historical aerials to see how the land has changed, and Street View for a look from the road.
HistoricalTodayUnlimited tracking and site markup
Track as many properties as you want, and mark driveways, structures, debris or other site features on any parcel.