How to Buy a House Before Foreclosure Auction

[Ian Carter]

A house in the our ideal neighborhood is coming up for foreclosure auction in the next month and we are trying to determine whether we could buy it from the current owners prior to the auction.  We have about 45-50% of the likely purchase price in cash on hand, but need a bridge loan/hard money loan to get the difference to make the deal work.  

Do you have tips /recommendations on:

1) hard money lenders (or other short term loan options) to obtain 400-500k for a period of no more than 3 months to be used to purchase a primary residence and until the refinance is complete?

2) any best practices/lessons learned on purchasing prior to foreclosure auction? I've heard buying AT auction is not recommended unless one is a seasoned investor, which I am not (despite having an investment property for the past 5 years).