Can I sell my house during the redemption period?
You still own your home during the redemption period. The sheriff's sale did not transfer it. You can sell it, and if it is worth more than the redemption amount, that difference is yours.
Many people do not know this, and it is the single most valuable thing on this page.
The number that decides everything#
What is your home worth, and what is the redemption amount?
The redemption amount is the bid at the sheriff's sale, plus interest set by law, plus certain costs the buyer has paid such as property taxes or insurance. It is not your original mortgage balance, and on many properties it is considerably less than people assume.
Get it from the county sheriff. Ask for the redemption amount and the exact date it applies to. It changes daily because interest accrues, so ask for a figure with a date attached.
Then find out what the property is worth. A local estate agent will give you an opinion at no cost. Your county assessor publishes an estimated market value on the property record, free to look up.
Compare the two:
If the home is worth more than the redemption amount, there is equity, and it is yours if you act before the deadline. It is not yours afterwards.
If it is worth less, a normal sale will not cover what is owed, and the relevant options are a short sale, a deed in lieu, or letting the process complete. A housing counsellor can explain which is realistic. There is no equity at risk in that situation, which is its own kind of clarity.
Two ways to sell#
A normal sale. List with an agent, buyers view it, you accept an offer, it closes. Usually six to ten weeks.
A cash offer. An investor buys directly, quickly, usually as-is, and usually for less.
| Normal sale | Cash offer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Higher | Lower |
| Time | 6–10 weeks | 1–3 weeks |
| Certainty | Buyer's financing can fail | High |
| Repairs | Buyer may ask for them | Usually as-is |
| Fees | Agent commission | Usually none |
Both can be reasonable. The point is knowing which you are choosing.
A normal sale generally pays more because more buyers see the property and they compete. An investor buying quickly and as-is is pricing for speed, certainty and the risk they take on — and that discount is real money.
The deciding factor is usually time. If your deadline is four months away, a normal sale is worth attempting. If it is three weeks away, it may not be possible, and a cash offer that actually closes is better than a higher offer that does not.
Ask an agent honestly whether there is time. Most will tell you.
Before you accept any offer#
Find out what your home is worth first, before anyone gives you a number. An offer only means something compared to something.
Check the buyer can close before your deadline. Ask how they are paying and when they can complete. A buyer who needs a mortgage and eight weeks is not usable if you have four.
Get the redemption payoff from the sheriff so the closing is calculated correctly. The title company or closer will need it.
Do not sign the day it is put in front of you.
Do not pay anyone up front. Minnesota law prohibits charging a fee before foreclosure help has been provided.
Have someone independent read the agreement. A free housing counsellor or a legal aid organisation will do this at no cost.
Your rights when selling in foreclosure#
Minnesota has a specific law — chapter 325N — covering people who buy homes from owners in foreclosure.
What it gives you:
A written contract in a required form. Not a handshake, not a note.
A right to cancel within a set number of days after signing. This cannot be signed away. An agreement saying you waive it does not work.
Disclosure of what is happening, including the amounts involved.
Protection from certain conduct, including misrepresentation and taking unfair advantage.
And a separate rule that matters: someone who offers to help you stop the foreclosure, for payment, may not take an interest in your property. If the same person is offering both to help and to buy, something is wrong.
Warning signs:
- Pressure to sign immediately
- A fee before anything has been done
- Being told to stop talking to your lender
- Being asked to sign over the deed without a proper sale
- An arrangement where you sell and stay on as a tenant with a promise to buy it back later — these have a long history of going badly and several states have restricted them
If any of these appear, stop and call a counsellor or legal aid before signing anything.
Family can help, in two ways#
They can buy it. A family member can purchase the property like any other buyer.
Or they can simply redeem it. Anyone with an interest in the property can pay the redemption amount, and the home stays yours. No sale is required.
That second option is often overlooked. If a relative can raise the redemption amount, which is frequently less than the mortgage balance, the property does not need to change hands at all.
What actually happens#
We follow Minnesota redemption periods through to the outcome, using recorded property documents.
Across 326 cases, about a third of homeowners paid off the amount and kept their homes, and 15.0% sold the property during the redemption period.
Nearly half did not end with the owner losing everything.
And equity is what made the difference. Where the amount bid at the sale was under half the property's assessed value, 58.1% of owners kept their homes — on 31 cases we tracked. Where the bid was 80% or more of assessed value, 20.0% did, on 50 cases.
Owners with equity find a way more often than not. If that describes you, the deadline is the thing to move on, not the ownership.
How the closing actually works#
Selling during a redemption period is a normal sale with one extra step, and knowing what it is prevents surprises at the end.
You still hold title, so you sign the deed as any seller would.
The redemption amount is paid at closing, out of the sale proceeds, to the sheriff or as the sheriff directs. That discharges the certificate held by whoever bought at the sale.
Anything left after that and after selling costs is yours, paid at closing like any other seller's proceeds.
You will need the payoff figure with a date. Interest accrues daily, so the closer needs a figure valid on the closing date rather than a number from three weeks earlier. The sheriff's office provides this.
Any other loans on the property still have to be paid. A second mortgage or a home equity line does not disappear because the first was foreclosed. The closer will identify these from the title search.
Unpaid property taxes come out too, and they are senior to almost everything.
Use a title company or closing attorney who has done this before. It is not complicated, but a closer unfamiliar with redemption periods will slow it down at exactly the point when time matters.
If time is short#
Sometimes the deadline is weeks away rather than months, and that changes what is realistic.
Ask the sheriff for the exact date first. Not an approximation. Everything else depends on it.
Tell any agent or buyer the deadline immediately. A buyer who knows they must close by a fixed date can often work to it. One who finds out late cannot.
A cash buyer may be the only option that closes in time, and if so, the right comparison is against losing the equity entirely rather than against a higher price you cannot reach.
Ask whether the deadline can move. Generally it cannot in Minnesota, but confirm with the sheriff rather than assuming either way.
Consider whether family can redeem instead. Raising the redemption amount is often a smaller sum than buying the house, and it can happen faster than a sale.
And do not let urgency stop you checking. Even with three weeks, an agent's opinion of value takes a day and a counsellor's call takes an hour. An offer accepted without either is an offer accepted blind.
After the sale completes#
You will owe nothing further on the foreclosed mortgage, because the redemption amount discharged it.
Keep the closing paperwork. It is the record that the matter was resolved and it will matter if anything is later reported incorrectly.
Check your credit report a few months later. Foreclosure processes sometimes continue to be reported after they have ended. If the record is wrong, you have the documents to correct it.
Ask about the tax position. A sale can have tax consequences depending on the amounts and your circumstances, and a brief conversation with a tax preparer before the closing is cheaper than a surprise the following January.
And the outcome is worth naming plainly. A homeowner who sells during the redemption period and keeps the equity has done substantially better than one who lets the deadline pass. It is not the outcome anyone wanted, and it is a good one from where things stood.
What to do this week#
- Call the county sheriff for the redemption amount and the exact deadline.
- Get an opinion on what your home is worth, free, from a local agent.
- Compare the two numbers.
- Call a free HUD-approved housing counsellor before deciding anything.
- If there is time, ask an agent whether a normal sale is realistic.
- If you take a cash offer, compare it to what an agent thinks the property is worth — not to nothing.
- Do not sign the same day, and do not pay anyone up front.
The equity in your home is yours until the deadline passes. After that it is not. Everything on this page is about the difference between those two sentences.