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.....

[Wayne Brooks]

@Sean MIddleton Just realize that they have no incentive to “give it away”.  In most markets, foreclosure auctions yield 80-90% (or more) of current value.  The current owner gets the surplus once all the liens are paid off, so they’re better off letting it go to foreclosure than sell to the typical low ball “foreclosure chaser”.