Preparing for my first foreclosure auction

[Ty Wal]

Greetings all! This forum has been an absolute wealth of information around the foreclosure process and trustee sales.

I've been heavily researching tax sales/foreclosures for a few years now and finally feel ready to take the jump. PropertRadar has been a huge help in helping to identify lien position and active foreclosure auctions. I've identified one that I really like and have been actively digging through the Grantor/Grantee Index at the local recorders.

I have a few questions:

1: The home was originally bought for cash, and a few years later a “Cash out loan” was taken. This is the one that is foreclosing. It's the earliest recorded active lien according to the recorders documents and is showing up as the 1st on PropertyRadar. Even though the house was originally bought with cash, this is still considered a 1st position lien, correct?

2: There is a ELOC showing up as a second that was recorded 2 years after the above “Cash out loan”. That loan is in default as well. That will be "wiped" after the 1st is sold at auction, correct?

3: I've pulled every record for both owners (husband and wife) at the recorders. There are no IRS liens or FTB liens. Is there anything I'm missing that I should look for?

4: I'm pretty confident the house is vacant, according to my research the owners both live and work in the same town in a different part of the state. The house definitely looks like no one lives in it. So would you still serve the owner a “3 day notice to quit” even though they don't live there? Then start the painful process of trying to notifying, move/store and auction off the abandoned property.

I've thoroughly researched the SB1079 laws and qualify as a prospective owner/occupant since we honestly plan to use the home as our primary residence.

I guess my primary question is, is there anything I seem to be missing and need to look into?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you seasoned pros can give a beginner!