December 2026 DeKalb County tax sale: 95 parcels analyzed

BidWise analyzed 95 parcels on the DeKalb County list for the December 1, 2026 tax sale, and 15 of them cleared the strong-deal bar of 75 or higher. The mix is house-heavy with a land tail: 77 residential, 17 land, 1 commercial, and no multi-family. That analysis was generated November 4, 2026. Counts move as owners pay the delinquency before sale day, so treat every figure here as a measurement rather than a promise.

What the analyzed December 1 list holds

Every figure below carries the November 4, 2026 analysis date.

Fifteen of the 95 scored 75 or higher, which is what a strong deal means on BidWise. That is roughly one parcel in six, and it is the highest strong-deal count on a DeKalb list since the September 1, 2026 sale. Three parcels also met the stricter Top Deal bar, which asks for a return of 100 percent or more backed by comparable sales. Top Deals are measured on that tighter test and are not the same thing as the strong-deal count, so read the two numbers separately.

The DeKalb County tax sales page prints the analysis date beside the parcel count. Both numbers move when the county amends its list and the parcels are measured again.

How the December list compares with the last two DeKalb sales

The November 3, 2026 DeKalb list carried 53 analyzed parcels: 48 residential, 2 commercial, and 3 land, with 4 clearing the strong-deal bar (analysis generated October 19, 2026). The October 6, 2026 list carried 221 parcels: 74 residential, 1 commercial, and 146 land, with 4 clearing it (analysis generated September 25, 2026).

So the December list is close to twice the size of November's and carries almost four times as many qualifying parcels, while the October list was nearly two and a half times larger than December's and produced only 4. Size and quality move independently here: October was dominated by land, December is dominated by houses. The full year of measured DeKalb lists is laid out in the 2026 DeKalb list history.

Three lists are not a trend, and the shape of a list says nothing about how hard other bidders will push the price on the steps.

What a 77-house list means for your bidding plan

Houses are the parcels the formula can price most confidently, because they carry comparable sales. The score is arithmetic you can audit rather than a black box: after-repair value from comparable sales, minus estimated rehab derived from square footage and year built, minus legal and closing costs, carrying costs, and selling costs. Whatever margin survives maps to a score from 0 to 100, and it arrives with its calculation notes and a confidence indicator reflecting how much comparable data stood behind the estimate. Read that indicator parcel by parcel instead of treating one high score as equal to another.

The 17 land parcels and the single commercial parcel are a different exercise. Vacant land and commercial property do not get a score, because the formula cannot price them from comparable sales; they show the county's own figures instead, labelled Not scored. If your plan for December 1 runs through those 18 parcels, the underwriting is yours to do from the county record and your own inspection, and the guardrails screen some land out as no bid for good reason.

Possession is the other question a list of this shape raises. During the redemption period the tax-deed purchaser generally does not have the right to take possession; possession stays with the owner or occupant. On a list 77 houses deep, several of them likely occupied, that is worth a conversation with a Georgia real-estate attorney before December 1.

The redemption clock starts on sale day

Whatever you win on December 1, 2026, you are buying a redeemable tax deed. The county sells the property, not the debt, and Georgia conveys redeemable tax deeds rather than certificates against the debt. The former owner, and other parties holding an interest in the property, have a 12-month right of redemption running from the date of the sale (O.C.G.A. section 48-4-40).

If the parcel is redeemed, you receive the amount you paid at the sale plus a redemption premium of 20 percent of that amount for the first year or fraction of a year, and 10 percent for each additional year or fraction (O.C.G.A. section 48-4-42). The premium is flat rather than an interest rate: the same 20 percent whether redemption lands in week one or month eleven. Taxes you pay after the sale and certain allowed costs are recoverable as well, though the exact items vary case by case. Run the arithmetic through the redemption calculator before you fix a maximum bid.

Two outcomes are possible on each parcel you win. It is redeemed, and you take your money back plus the premium with no property to show for it, or it is not, and you proceed to barment and usually quiet title, and end up owning a house you have probably never been inside. Until the right of redemption is barred or title ripens by prescription, what you hold is a defeasible tax deed, not insurable title.

How to prepare before the first Tuesday

• Confirm the sale against the county's official notice. DeKalb publishes at the DeKalb Tax Commissioner. Whether the county sells on December 1, and what remains on the list when it does, is governed by that notice and not by any analysis.
• Plan for Decatur, the county seat. Georgia tax sales are held on the first Tuesday of the month at the county courthouse, typically between 10 AM and 4 PM, and they are advertised in advance in the county's legal organ for four consecutive weeks. The sale-day mechanics are covered in how DeKalb County tax sales work.
• Confirm payment terms on that same notice. Certified funds, cash, and sale-day deadlines are set by each county's tax commissioner or sheriff, and getting them wrong on the steps costs you the parcel.
• Remember what the opening bid covers: the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and costs of the sale. It says nothing about what the parcel is worth, and the parcel goes to the highest bidder.
• Walk the street names before you bid. The free masked DeKalb sample shows street names with the numbers redacted, property type, taxes due, and an estimated-value band, which is enough to see which parts of the county this sale reaches.
• Check what else falls on the same date. Gwinnett has 57 analyzed parcels for December 1, 2026, generated November 4, 2026, and Fulton has 64, generated November 5, 2026. The Georgia tax sales hub lists each covered county's next statutory sale date and analyzed-parcel count side by side.

Frequently asked questions

When is the next DeKalb County tax sale?

Georgia tax sales fall on the first Tuesday of the month, and the next statutory date is December 1, 2026. Whether DeKalb holds a sale that day, and what remains on its list, is governed by the county's official notice rather than by any analysis. BidWise analyzed 95 parcels for that date on November 4, 2026, and the count can change as owners pay the delinquency before sale day.

How many parcels are on the December 2026 DeKalb County tax sale?

Ninety-five parcels were analyzed for the December 1, 2026 DeKalb sale: 77 residential, 1 commercial, and 17 land, with no multi-family. Fifteen scored 75 or higher, which is the strong-deal bar. That analysis was generated November 4, 2026, and the figures are measured again when the county amends its list, so confirm the parcel count against the county notice before sale day.

What is the difference between a strong deal and a Top Deal?

A strong deal means a deal score of 75 or higher. A Top Deal is a stricter, separate measure: a return of 100 percent or more backed by comparable sales. On the December 1, 2026 DeKalb list, 15 parcels cleared the strong-deal bar and 3 met the Top Deal bar, as of the November 4, 2026 analysis. The two counts are not interchangeable.

What happens if the owner redeems a DeKalb tax deed?

You receive the amount you paid at the sale plus a redemption premium of 20 percent of that amount for the first year or fraction of a year, and 10 percent for each additional year or fraction (O.C.G.A. section 48-4-42). The premium is flat rather than an interest rate. Taxes you pay after the sale and certain allowed costs are recoverable as well, though the exact items vary case by case.

Georgia tax sales convey a redeemable tax deed, not clear title. Every figure in BidWise is an estimate produced from public records and comparable sales — not an appraisal, and not investment, legal, or tax advice. Confirm every parcel against the county's official notice, and talk to a Georgia real-estate attorney before you bid.