How much does it cost to get a house back after a tax sale in Indiana?

The short answer

Usually much less than people expect. After the fall tax sale, redeeming costs the minimum bid (the back taxes and costs) plus 10% if you redeem within six months, or 15% after that, plus any later taxes the buyer paid and their notice costs. It is not the full amount the winning bidder paid. The county auditor gives the exact figure.

Why the notice makes it sound bigger

The winning bid is often far above the taxes, because bidders compete. The paperwork can read as if the family has to pay all of that back. In practice the redemption is figured on the minimum bid, not the extra the bidder offered. When a house is redeemed, the bidder gets their extra back from the county, not from the family.

Rules and amounts are set by state law and can change, and the later commissioner sale is figured a little differently. Always get the number in writing from the county auditor before paying.

What goes into the amount

The minimum bid: the delinquent taxes, penalties and sale costs.
A percentage of that, which goes up after six months.
Any taxes that came due later and that the buyer paid.
The buyer's costs for the required notices and title search, within limits the law sets.

Who can pay it

The owner, or anyone with an interest in the house, such as an heir. Payment goes to the county auditor, not to the bidder. Paying it doesn't change who owns the house; it just ends the tax sale.

If paying it isn't the hard part

For many families the money isn't what stops them. It's that nobody has authority to act for a parent who died, or the heirs can't agree. Selling the house before the deadline, with the redemption paid at closing, is another way through. See selling after a tax sale.