Sacramento tax auctions can be risky bets. Here’s what to know
Sacramento County’s bi-annual tax auctions can look like bargain opportunities, but a Sacramento Bee review of 32 properties sold from 2022 to 2025 found many remain vacant, troubled or stuck in limbo.
FULL STORY: In Sacramento, tax auction ‘deals’ can come with surprises. Inside the process
Key takeaways about recent Sacramento tax auctions
- Of 32 properties auctioned by the county from 2022 to 2025, 13 parcels remain vacant and only a handful of new homes have been built on auctioned land.
- Properties typically reach auction after about seven years of tax default. The average minimum bid was $37,646, with properties selling for around $200,000 on average — well below Sacramento’s average home value of $480,548 as of April 30, according to Zillow.
- Buyers face real risks: liens, code violations, hazardous contamination and unexpected occupants. Bay Area investor Afshin Sazegari paid $255,381.05 for a south Sacramento house in May 2022 that remains fenced off and uninhabitable after a fire.
- A 2025 auction resulted in tragedy months later when Karl Lysinger detonated his Oak Park house and died on the day he was to be evicted.
- Auctions cluster in lower-value neighborhoods on the city’s outer edges, where infill development economics are “problematic” according to architect David Mogavero.
