Reaching out to a foreclosure prior to selling property

[Sean MIddleton]

Hello,

My brother and I are looking for our first deal and noticed a foreclosure going for auction on 2/3/22. I was thinking of going to auction but was wondering if I could skip trace and try to make a deal before it goes to auction. Is this possible to do in such a short period of time? The owner is being sued for $32,000. It has a federal tax lien of $22,000. Prop stream shows a possible HELOC for 46,000 owed. They are currently still living on the property. The estimate between Zillow and Propstream are around $300,000-$312,000. If it goes to auction I believe the HELOC will not be paid as the other liens are prior to in priority(is this correct?). Is this a recommended tactic? I really want to be able to walk the property to understand the repair extents to be able to figure the max offer amount plus if I could talk the owner into renting it, they could stay in the house they are losing and I could make a nice investment. Thoughts.....