Delinquent tax lists · Tennessee
Knox County delinquent tax list
Short answer: Knox County has two delinquent tax lists. The official one is published by the County Trustee before each scheduled sale, free to download, and it lists parcel numbers and amounts owed with no owner contact. The year-round one is the delinquency record underneath it, where 575 (estimated) owners near Knoxville currently carry a distress signal. Tennessee is a redeemable deed state, so a winning bid at the sale takes a deed the owner can still buy back.
Distressed owners near Knoxville
575
Within 25 miles of the county seat, refreshed daily. Knox County is a mid-size county.
Top-deal discount target
~44% under market
Average start bid across the 20 strongest Knox leads right now.
Avg. spread per top deal
$253,000
On a typical $579,000 estimated value.
Coverage centers on Knoxville, the Knox County seat, and reaches 25 miles out, widening to 50 when the market runs thin.
Knox County tax sale rules at a glance
The mechanics that decide what you are actually buying, and how long the owner keeps a way out. The full Tennessee rules, timelines and deficiency detail sit on the state page, since they apply to every county here.
| County | Knox County, Tennessee. County seat: Knoxville. |
|---|---|
| Who publishes the list | The County Trustee for Knox County. |
| What the sale transfers | Tennessee is a redeemable deed state. A winning bidder gets a redeemable deed, which is ownership subject to the former owner buying it back inside the redemption window. |
| Rate and cadence | County tax sales convey deeds subject to a redemption of up to 1 year at 12%. |
| Owner redemption | A 2 year right exists on paper but is waived in nearly every deed of trust. |
The Tennessee delinquency clock
Where a Knox owner sits on this line is what decides whether they will take a low cash offer today.
The Knox list, ranked hardest-first
Representative profiles from our ranking model for the Knoxville area. The live list, with exact locations, photos and owner details, is one free scan away.
| Rank | Why they would sell | Est. value | Start bid | Under market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Pre-foreclosureTax delinquent 4 yr95% equity | $640,000 | $275,000 | ~45% |
| #2 | Notice of defaultVacant 9 mo76% equity | $637,000 | $274,000 | ~45% |
| #3 | Auction setTax delinquent 4 yr52% equity | $624,000 | $313,000 | ~45% |
7 more ranked Knoxville deals behind the scan
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What the Knox list is made of
Most distressed owners carry more than one signal, so these bands overlap. Stacked signals rank highest.
How Knox compares across Tennessee
Knox County is among the largest counties in Tennessee, and it runs denser in distressed owners than the Tennessee average, at 11.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against a state figure of 8.8. It accounts for about 18.3% of every flagged property across the Tennessee counties on this site.
| County | Seat | Flagged owners | Per 10k residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner County | Gallatin | 768 | 37.5 |
| Knox County (this page) | Knoxville | 575 | 11.7 |
| Montgomery County | Clarksville | 430 | 18.6 |
| Williamson County | Franklin | 389 | 15 |
| Hamilton County | Chattanooga | 365 | 9.7 |
| Davidson County | Nashville | 263 | 3.7 |
Density matters more than the raw count when you are choosing where to work. A smaller county with a high per-capita figure often has less competition per lead than the metro next door.
How far under market these close
The official Knox list vs. this one
Both are worth having. They answer different questions.
| Knox official sale list | The LowBaller list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who publishes it | The County Trustee | LowBaller, from county and public records |
| When it exists | Only in the run-up to each scheduled sale | Year round, refreshed daily |
| Format | A PDF or spreadsheet of parcel numbers and amounts owed | A ranked table with a map pin, photo and estimated value on every row |
| Owner contact | Not included | Phone and email on unlock, and no credit is spent when nothing verifies |
| Ranking | Alphabetical or by parcel number | Hardest situation first, by foreclosure stage, years behind and equity |
| Timing advantage | Everyone bidding sees the same list on the same day | Owners appear months before any auction, while a private sale still solves their problem |
Working the Knox list
What actually matters in a county this size, at this level of distress, under Tennessee timelines.
Number 3 in Tennessee, and quieter for it
Knox County ranks 3 of 8 covered Tennessee counties with roughly 18.3% of the state's flagged properties. Big enough for real volume, one step removed from where the crowd concentrates.
Above the state norm
Knox runs 11.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against 8.8 statewide. More pressure per capita than the typical Tennessee county, and more owners carrying two or three signals at once.
Knoxville and everything around it
Knox works off Knoxville as its seat, and the scan reaches 25 miles out from there, widening to 50 when the list runs thin. In a county this shape that usually means several towns, each with its own price level.
The Tennessee clock
Foreclosure here typically runs 2 to 3 months from filing to sale. The tax clock and the mortgage clock run independently, so check both before you decide how hard a deadline an owner is actually facing.
Why Knox investors work it before auction day
No bidding war
At the sale you are one of a room full of bidders on the same parcel. Months earlier you are the only person who called.
You can see the house
A private sale means an inspection and a clean title search. Lien auctions in Tennessee rarely give you either.
The owner keeps something
An owner with equity who sells early clears the tax debt and walks away with money. At the sale, they usually walk away with nothing.
Knox County delinquent tax list FAQ
How do I get the Knox County delinquent tax list?
Two lists exist and they are not the same. The official one comes from the County Trustee, is published as a PDF or spreadsheet before each scheduled sale, and disappears between sales. The year-round one is the delinquency record itself, which is what LowBaller compiles: roughly 575 properties around Knoxville currently carry at least one distress signal, ranked by how much pressure the owner is under.
Is there a free Knox delinquent property tax list PDF?
Yes. The County Trustee publishes the pre-sale list free of charge, usually as a PDF or a downloadable spreadsheet tied to a specific sale date. It gives you parcel numbers and amounts owed. It does not give you owner contact details, an estimated value, or any indication of which owners would actually take a low cash offer.
When is the Knox County tax sale?
Knox County publishes its own schedule, and it moves. The Tennessee pattern is the thing that holds steady: County tax sales convey deeds subject to a redemption of up to 1 year at 12%. Check the county's pre-sale notice close to the date, because the list shrinks daily as owners redeem.
Can I buy Knox tax-delinquent property before the auction?
Yes, and it is usually the better trade. There is no bidding war, the owner clears the debt with a clean sale instead of a forced one, and you are not buying blind. The window is the months between the delinquency appearing in the record and the sale being scheduled, which is exactly the period this list covers.
What does a winning bid actually get you in Tennessee?
Tennessee is a redeemable deed state, so a winning bidder takes a redeemable deed, which is ownership subject to the former owner buying it back inside the redemption window. A 2 year right exists on paper but is waived in nearly every deed of trust. That difference matters more than the discount: in a lien state you are buying a debt with a yield, and in a deed state you are buying a house.
How far below market do Knox deals close?
The strongest current leads near Knoxville support start bids around 44% under estimated value. Across the whole list, hard distress such as a scheduled auction or a stacked tax lien closes 20 to 40% under market, while softer signals like long-distance ownership land closer to 15 to 30% under. Knox runs denser in distress than the Tennessee average, so stacked-signal owners, the ones who accept the widest discounts, turn up more often here than in a typical county in this state. Equity sets the ceiling, because an offer cannot go below what clears the owner's mortgage.
How many tax-delinquent properties are there in Knox?
About 575 properties within 25 miles of Knoxville currently show at least one motivation signal in public records, and tax delinquency is among the most common. That works out to 11.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents, against 8.8 across Tennessee as a whole, and makes Knox the number 3 of the 8 Tennessee counties covered here by population. That figure moves daily as owners pay, redeem or fall further behind.
Do I need a Knox address to search, or can I search the whole county?
Either. Run the scan on any Knox ZIP and you get the full ranked list for the surrounding area, or check one specific address to see whether that owner carries a distress signal. Browsing is free and unlimited, and credits are only spent when an owner's verified phone or email comes back.
Delinquent tax lists nearby
Keep going
The Knox owners who will sell cheap are on this list today.
Not in 2026 sale season. Now, months before the auction, while a quiet private sale still solves their problem. Scan free and browse every one.
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Informational summary, not legal or investment advice. Rates, redemption periods and sale formats are summarized at the Tennessee state level and can be changed by statute or applied differently by Knox County. The County Trustee and the county's own pre-sale notices control every schedule, deposit and bidding rule. Verify before you bid.