Berks County sheriff sale: how it works and how to bid

Updated Oct. 11, 2026: Berks County is changing auction websites. Sales through Oct. 9, 2026 ran on Bid4Assets. The Sheriff's Office says that starting with the Nov. 6, 2026 sale it will run its sales through RealAuction, with a different deposit rule and a different payment schedule. This guide describes the RealAuction rules. One warning before you send money anywhere: as of Oct. 11, Bid4Assets still displays Berks property lists for Nov. 6 and Dec. 11 with its old $10,035 deposit and an Oct. 30 deposit deadline, while RealAuction's calendar shows the same Nov. 6 sale under the new rules. The county's notice names RealAuction. Call the Sheriff's Real Estate Division at 610-478-6240, extension 3210, and confirm which site will take bids before you deposit.

A Berks County sheriff sale is a public auction where a property is sold to pay off a court judgment, most often a mortgage the owner stopped paying. The county runs these sales online, they happen about once a month, and anyone can bid who registers on the auction website and funds a deposit first.

The sheriff does not choose to sell the property. A lender or other creditor sues, wins a judgment in the Berks County Court of Common Pleas, and gets a court order directing the sheriff to sell the property and turn the proceeds over to pay the debt. The sheriff carries out that order.

A sheriff sale is not a tax sale

These are two different sales run by two different county offices, and people mix them up constantly.

• A sheriff sale sells a property to satisfy a court judgment, usually a mortgage foreclosure. The Sheriff's Office runs it.
• A tax sale sells a property because the owner did not pay real estate taxes. The Berks County Tax Claim Bureau runs it, through the upset sale and the judicial sale. See our guide to what happens if you don't pay Berks County property taxes.

The rest of this guide is about the sheriff sale.

Where to find the sale list

Berks County holds its real estate sheriff sales online under a court order signed Dec. 15, 2020, that moved the sales off the courthouse steps and onto the internet starting in January 2021. That order named Bid4Assets "or similar municipal auction format" and says a different auction format may be substituted only with the court's approval; the county's page does not post a newer order covering RealAuction. Sales are held about once a month, usually on a Friday, and begin at 10 a.m.

Two places carry the current list:

1. The Sheriff's Office Real Estate Executions page, which posts the sale schedule, the conditions of sale, and a link to the county's listing site, where each property shows a status: active, active (P) for a property postponed from an earlier sale, postponed, or cancelled.
2. The county's auction site, berks.pa.realforeclose.com, run by RealAuction, where registration, deposits, and bidding all live starting with the Nov. 6, 2026 sale.

The county's sale schedule lists the upcoming dates: Nov. 6 and Dec. 11, 2026, then Jan. 8, Feb. 5, March 5, April 9, May 7, June 11, July 9, Aug. 6, Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 5 and Dec. 10, 2027.

Properties are often postponed or pulled off the list at the last minute when the owner pays, files for bankruptcy, or works out a deal. Check the listing site for the current status rather than assuming a property will go to sale.

What you need before you can bid

You cannot walk in and bid on the day of the sale. Bidding is online, and you have to fund a deposit ahead of time.

• A deposit equal to 10% of the highest bid you expect to make, for each property you plan to bid on, placed through the RealAuction site before the sale. That is the first condition in the county's conditions of sale for sales from Nov. 6, 2026 on. The rules name only two deposit methods, a wire transfer or an ACH debit from your bank account, and say cash and international funds are not accepted. The Sheriff's Office does not take deposits in the office.
• Time for the deposit to clear. RealAuction's FAQ sets the deadlines: a wire must arrive by 5 p.m. Eastern two business days before the auction, and an ACH debit must be started by 4 p.m. Eastern five business days before. ACH funds take five business days to show up; a wire can take up to 48 hours.
• A RealAuction account, set up before the deposit deadline. After you register, you allocate your deposit to Berks County inside the site.
• Your own research on the property. Sheriff sales are sold as-is, sight unseen. You cannot go inside, and the county makes no promise about the condition, the occupants, or what other debts are attached.

Until the Oct. 9, 2026 sale, the rule was different: a flat $10,035 deposit on Bid4Assets at least seven days before the sale. That rule no longer applies.

How a sheriff sale works, step by step

1. Find the property on the county listing site or on the RealAuction site.
2. Research the title yourself, or hire a title company or lawyer, so you know what other liens exist before you bid.
3. Register on berks.pa.realforeclose.com and deposit 10% of your expected top bid by wire or ACH, early enough to meet the deadlines above.
4. Bid during the online auction, which opens at 10 a.m. on the sale date. The site uses proxy bidding: you enter the most you are willing to pay, and it bids for you one increment at a time. Bids rise in steps of at least $1,000. A bid in the last 30 seconds extends the auction by 60 seconds, unless the bid is below the lender's stated maximum.
5. If you win, your deposit becomes nonrefundable and is credited toward the price at closing.
6. Pay the remaining balance through the auction site. The county's conditions of sale give you 10 days from the close of the auction. RealAuction's FAQ says the balance is due by 4:30 p.m. Eastern 10 business days from the sale date. The two documents do not match; the county page's older bidding text also says 10 calendar days, so plan for the shorter deadline unless the Sheriff's Office tells you otherwise. Miss it and you forfeit the deposit, and the sheriff can offer the property to the next-highest bidder.
7. Submit a Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value form to the Sheriff's Office when you pay. The county page links the current form; an old version will be rejected.
8. A $250 fee for the county's Demolition and Rehabilitation Fund is added to each property sold, effective Jan. 1, 2026. It is billed on your RealAuction invoice.
9. The sheriff records the deed in your name after the sale. The county's FAQ says about 60 days; its sale schedule lists deed-recording dates about seven weeks after each sale.

The county's conditions do not list a buyer's premium. The Sheriff's "Basic Bidding Information" section on the same page still describes the old Bid4Assets terms, a 10% payment plus a 1.5% buyer's premium due the next business day. That text predates the switch; the Nov. 6 conditions of sale control. If you want certainty before bidding, ask the Sheriff's Real Estate Division.

What you are buying

A sheriff sale transfers whatever interest the former owner had, and no more. That comes with risks a normal home purchase does not.

• The sale can carry other debts. RealAuction's FAQ says judgments, earlier mortgages, taxes or liens can survive the sale, and that the winning bidder takes title subject to every defect and lien the bidder could have found. The county's conditions say the same: it is the bidder's job to investigate liens that the sale's distribution may not pay off. This is why title research before you bid matters.
• There is no inspection and no financing contingency. You bid on a property you have not been inside, and you owe the money on the deadlines above whether or not you can get a loan. The county notes you will not have the deed in time to use the property as collateral for a mortgage.
• There is no right to buy it back. Nothing in the county's conditions of sale or RealAuction's rules lets the former owner reclaim the property by paying after the sale closes. Any sale can still be set aside by a court, the conditions note. (Tax sales are a separate process with their own rules.)

If any of this is unclear for a specific property, talk to a real estate lawyer before you bid. This guide explains the process; it is not legal advice.

If your own home is being sold

If you are the owner and your property is on the sale list, the sale is not always the end. Owners can sometimes stop or postpone a sheriff sale by paying what is owed, reaching an agreement with the lender, or through a court filing, and the deadlines are tight. Contact the lender's attorney listed on the sale notice and get legal help immediately. Free civil legal help is available to low-income Berks County residents through MidPenn Legal Services.

Where to go

Berks County Sheriff's Office, County Courthouse, 633 Court Street, 3rd Floor, Reading, PA 19601. Main phone 610-478-6240; office hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Real estate questions go to the Sheriff's Real Estate Division at 610-478-6240, extension 3210, or RealEstate@berkspa.gov. Sheriff Mandy P. Miller leads the office. For website and deposit problems, RealAuction's customer service email is customerservice@realauction.com.

For how the Sheriff's Office fits alongside the county's other offices, see how Berks County government works. If you win a property and want to confirm the recorded deed afterward, see our guide to getting a copy of a deed in Berks County.

FAQ

Who can bid at a Berks County sheriff sale?

Almost anyone who registers on the auction site and funds the deposit before the deadline. You do not have to be a Berks County resident. A law firm with plaintiff access to manage its own foreclosure cases cannot use that account to bid as a third party; it needs a separate bidder account.

How much money do I need to bid?

Under the county's conditions for sales from Nov. 6, 2026 on, you deposit 10% of the highest bid you plan to make, by wire or ACH, before the sale. If you win, that deposit is applied to the price and you pay the rest within 10 days of the auction's close under the county's conditions of sale. If you lose, the money stays in your RealAuction escrow account for future sales or you request a refund, which the site says can take up to 20 business days to process plus mailing time.

Is a sheriff sale the same as a tax sale?

No. A sheriff sale satisfies a court judgment, usually a foreclosed mortgage, and is run by the Sheriff's Office. A tax sale sells a property for unpaid taxes and is run by the Tax Claim Bureau. Different offices, different rules, different lists.

Can I inspect the property before I buy it?

No. Properties are sold as-is and remain the debtor's property until the sale, so they are not open for viewing. Research the address, the title, and any liens on your own before you bid, because there is no inspection contingency and no refund if the property is in poor shape.

Do I get the property free of other debts?

Not automatically. A foreclosing mortgage typically clears liens filed after it, but unpaid taxes, municipal claims, and some earlier liens can survive the sale and pass to you. Search the title before bidding so you know what you would be taking on.