Common Terms and Phrases at GovEase

Here are some common phrases and terms that we use across our website and their explanations/meanings:


  1. "Face Value" - This is the starting amount of a lien or deed; the "face value" is the actual taxes owed on the parcel plus any fees and penalties. The "face value" is where the bidding will start for a parcel.

  1. "Over-Bid," "Max Bid," or "Excess Bid" - This is the dollar amount that a bidder goes over the face value. On our site, all bids placed during live bidding are "over-bids," and are on top of the face value. (For example, if the face value is $100, and you bid $200, your total is now $300. To bid at just face value, you'll enter $0 into the bid box.)

Over-bid is NOT used in foreclosure sales where you put in the total bid, over-bid is only used in tax lien and tax deed sales.


  1. "Clock Reset" or "Overtime Period" - If the county chooses a "clock reset" or "overtime period," this means that if a bidder places a bid within the last 10 seconds, the clock will reset to 10 seconds (or, however many seconds the county deems).

Not all counties use clock resets, as this is an optional feature we offer.


  1. "Requested Approval Amount" - This is the dollar amount that you are willing to spend overall in a county's auction, basically, your spending limit. You will enter this amount when you register for a county's sale. During bidding, you can bid on as many properties as you want, but the system will not accept any bids that will put you over your requested approval amount and will cut you off once you win up to your requested approval amount.

  1. "Pre-Bid," or "Proxy Bid" - Once pre-bidding opens for your county (see dates on the "Live and Upcoming page on our website), you can place bids before the live sale. If you place a pre-bid before the live sale, then you do not need to watch or participate in the live sale, as the GovEase system will bid on your behalf up to the max overbid you set for that specific parcel.

  1. "Bid Increment" - This is the dollar increments in which you place bids. The bid increment for a county's sale will be up to the county to decide, and this information will be included on the registration page for the county's sale.

  1. "Quick Bid" - The quick bid button allows you to quickly place a bid on top of the current winning bid for that parcel. Quick bid increments vary, depending on what the county selects for their sale.


  1. "Parcel Number" - The identification number for a parcel, or lien/deed of real estate. You can search for a parcel by the parcel number, unique number, or owner name.

  1. "Unique Number" - Another identification number for a parcel; if you click on the unique number, it will pull up the parcel detail page, showing all the information the county provided us on the parcel.

  1. "Parcel Detail Page" - Where you can find any information on the parcel you are interested in.

  1. "Registration Documents" - These are documents that the county selects for bidders to sign and date when signing up to participate in their sale. Some common registration documents are a W-9, Bank Letter of Credit, Copy of Driver's License, Terms of Sale, GovEase Payment and Deposit Instructions, Vesting Information Form, etc.

  1. "Watch List" - The watch list is where you can save the parcels you are interested in.

You will NOT be notified when the parcel goes live.


  1. "Live Bidding" - Placing bids during the live auction

To see auction times and dates, visit our homepage at govease.com and click on "Tax Sale Auctions" at the top.


  1. "GovEase I.D." - This is an I.D. that the GovEase system creates for each bidder; if you are already in our system, then your I.D. will not change.

You do NOT need your I.D. to bid or see if you are winning - the system will tell you if you are winning on the "Live Bidding" page for each parcel as it goes through the auction block.


  1. "County Bidder I.D." - This is an I.D. issued by the county for each bidder; it could be an I.D. they have used from previous sales. If you are a new bidder, you will be assigned an I.D. from the county.

  1. "Assessed Land" - This is NOT the true value of the land, this is an estimation of the amount of taxes owed.

  1. "Assessed Improvements" - The estimated amount of improvements done to the property/land.

  1. "Total True Value" - The true value of the property/land.

  1. "True Building Value" - The true value of the property.

  1. "True Land Value" - The true value of the land.

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