Newie scenario

[Aaron Aaron]

OK..I've begun my RE investing education by joining Biggerpockets and visited my first county courthouse. Luckily for me the two courthouses I visited were not computerized so I spent a couple hours familiarizing myself with the documents. Definitely not as simple/easy as I interpreted from others. When I got back to my computer I looked at a county that was "digital", and still found it to be labor intensive (relatively speaking).
So this is what I've gathered at day 3 of "the rest of my life". Please feel free to correct/enlighten me at any point:

1. Joe Doe buys his first house..a "Deed of Trust" is filed with county courthouse. In this deed I found original "Purchase Price".
-- question 1: Is original purchase price significant? I would assume if homeowner wants out it is irrelevant where as the bank wants what is owed at the bare minimum.
2. Joe Doe falls on some hard times and fails to make several payments. An "Assignment of Lien" is filed at county courthouse by the "Grantor".
3. Eventually an "Appointment of Substitute Trustee" is filed at county courthouse. This filing has the data the property will be auctioned off.
--question 1. Is there a specified period of time between an "Assignment of Lien" and "Appointment of Substitute Trustee"?
--question 2. Do I have to contact the "Appointed Substitute Trustee" or the homeowner to make an offer before auction date?

In regards to "Is it a deal" I'll use some numbers on one of the properties I found and ya'll tell me if my logic/thought process is correct...

- Initial loan amount was $119,918
- Original deed was Mar 06 so amount owed is approximately $114,000-116,000 (I just punched in couple different interest rates and looked at amortization from 5/06 to 3/09)
- Looking on Zillow I see houses selling around $105,000..Can I assume $105,000ish would be FMV? If that is the case, I can/should offer 70-80% of FMV. Based on that offer I could make between 21-31K if I had a buyer? If I wanted to rent it I would have to get 1400-1700 (based on 2% rule)...

That is what I've come up with based on what I've heard and been reading.. I look forward to any feedback/suggestions anyone is willing to provide.

Aaron