Sheriff's Deed? Looking to get my first potential deal.

[Lauren Koon]

Hello everyone!

I am looking to pull the trigger and try to find my first real estate deal! I had bought my first single family home February of 2020 which I currently occupy and initially peaked my interest in real estate. Anyhow, around my corner on the next street is a vacant home. It is a small 3 bed 1 bath 944 sqft. I walk my neighborhood frequently with my dog and I think about that property often. \I feel like with it being that close to me it would be perfect for a first deal. After doing some digging through public records there is a name on the property with a Sheriffs deed sale price of $35,000. This was March of 2013. Does anyone know about what a sheriffs deed is and I guess why would someone just have a vacant property? I had researched a little about the sheriffs deed and I am seeing that I guess the property was sold at a sheriffs sale by order of the county?  I bought my home for $127k the street over and the average in this city is close to $155k. I am in a city 15 minutes from Cleveland, Ohio. Do you guys think this is a potential deal or should I move on? Should I try to contact the name on the public record to find out if they are interested in selling? Any advice would be extremely helpful.