What sells off-market in Duval County, FL
By Josh MillerUpdated 5 min readForeclosure filings sold best in Duval County, FL, and it wasn't close: about 19 of every 100 owners with a foreclosure filing sold off-market within 12 months of the filing, against about 1.7 of every 100 houses picked at random in the county. Most of those 143 sales, 125 of them, came after month 3, with the busiest stretch in months 7 to 9, so this is a list to keep mailing all year.
In Duval County (Jacksonville), about a third of the home sales recorded over 12 months never went through an agent's listing. The owners most likely to be among them had a foreclosure filing, not an expired listing.
Below is every list we could measure in Duval County, out of about 308,000 single-family homes, with how many owners on each sold off-market and when.
Lists that start with a filing
Foreclosures, expired listings, liens and judgments start on a date: something got filed with the county. Here is how many owners on each list in Duval County sold off-market afterward, sorted by how many of every 100 sold within 12 months.
| List | Owners on the list | Sold off-market within 3 months | Sold off-market within 12 months | Of every 100, sold within 12 months | Busiest quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreclosure filed | 768 | 18 | 143 | 18.6 | Months 7 to 9 |
| Expired or cancelled listing | 2,737 | 142 | 253 | 9.2 | Months 1 to 3 |
| Lien filed against the property | 1,565 | 39 | 128 | 8.2 | Months 1 to 3 |
| Judgment against the owner | 2,775 | 3 | 20 | 0.7 | Months 7 to 9 |
Expired and cancelled listings, the list most investors would guess first, came in at about 9.2 of every 100 within 12 months in Duval County. Foreclosure filings beat them here at about 19 of every 100.
Not every list that starts with a filing earns its stamp. In Duval County, about 0.7 of every 100 owners with a judgment against them sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.7 of every 100 houses picked at random. That list did no better than mailing the county blind.
Lists that just sit there
Vacant houses, back taxes, equity and owners who live somewhere else don't start on a date. Those owners can sit on a list for years. Read the shaded bottom row first: it's a house picked at random in Duval County, and a list that can't beat it is buying stamps and nothing else.
| List | Owners on the list | Sold off-market within 12 months | Of every 100, sold within 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behind on taxes, 5 or more years | 348 | 26 | 7.5 |
| Behind on taxes, 2 to 4 years | 13,808 | 668 | 4.8 |
| Sitting vacant | 5,331 | 237 | 4.4 |
| High equity, living elsewhere | 45,831 | 1,158 | 2.5 |
| Owns it free and clear | 106,507 | 2,368 | 2.2 |
| Owner 65 or older, living elsewhere | 9,595 | 66 | 0.7 |
| Any house, picked at random | 308,267 | 5,307 | 1.7 |
The best of them in Duval County was owners 5 or more years behind on taxes: about 7.5 of every 100 sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.7 of every 100 houses picked at random.
Owners 65 and older who live elsewhere sold off-market less often than a random house in Duval County over the same 12 months. That list is buying stamps, not sellers, here.
Equity lists beat a random house in Duval County, but they are big lists, so a small edge still costs a lot of postage.
When to mail in Duval County
Go early on expired and cancelled listings and liens on the property. In Duval County, the first 3 months after the filing were the busiest quarter for each of them: 142 of the 253 off-market sales within 12 months on expired and cancelled listings came in that first stretch.
Stay longer on foreclosure filings. Their busiest quarter in Duval County was months 7 to 9 after the filing (18, then 35, 47 and 43 sales by quarter), so a single letter in month one misses most of the owners who end up selling.
Judgments against the owner peaked late too, in months 7 to 9 (3, then 3, 9 and 5 sales by quarter).
Treat the timing on judgments against the owner as a lean, not a rule: fewer than 30 of those owners sold off-market within 12 months in Duval County.
Whatever the list, take out anyone who already sold or listed the house before every drop.
How we counted
For filings from October 2024 through March 2025, we counted every off-market, arm's-length sale recorded in the county afterward. Counted from the county's own records by FirstPulse, the data engine GoForClose runs on.
Lists that sit there, like vacant houses or back taxes, and the house picked at random are counted over 12 months. Probate and divorce are left out: there are too few on record in most counties to measure honestly.
Compare another county
- What sells off-market in Cook County, IL: expired and cancelled listings led there.
- What sells off-market in Harris County, TX: expired and cancelled listings led there.
- Every county page
For the method behind these tables, read which motivated seller lists actually sell, when to mail each list and how the lead services compare.
Questions investors ask about Duval County
What list sells best in Duval County?
Of the lists we could measure in Duval County, FL, foreclosure filings sold off-market most often: about 19 of every 100 owners with a foreclosure filing sold within 12 months of the filing, against about 1.7 of every 100 houses picked at random in the county over 12 months.
When should I mail foreclosure filings in Duval County?
Longer than most investors do. In Duval County, the busiest quarter for off-market sales after a foreclosure filing was months 7 to 9 (18, then 35, 47 and 43 sales by quarter). Start in month one and keep going until the owner sells or lists.
Do absentee owners over 65 sell in Duval County?
Rarely. In Duval County, FL, about 0.7 of every 100 owners 65 and older who live somewhere else sold off-market within 12 months, against about 1.7 of every 100 houses picked at random. That list did worse than mailing the county blind.
Can I see this for my county?
Yes. Any of 563 counties can be read free at goforclose.com/read, counted from that county's own records, with no call needed to see it.