Questions on the purchase of a REO in Southern Florida

[Christine Thibeault]

Hello,

After carefully following the demise of the housing bubble over the last two years I have found a property I love that we intend to live in as our last home before retirement.

This property is located in an area where many, many homes that are either in pre- foreclosure or have become bank owned. If you have not seen this area (Loxahatchee, Florida) you would be amazed, you just have to see how many hundreds of abandoned homes there are now over here.

The home we love had been listed for sale as a brand new home that was perfect. The realtor had a online tour that showed everything perfect and beautiful.
The MSL number is not valid any longer.

We went and looked into the windows yesterday to find out that the home has been stripped, the entire kitchen, and all bathroom cub boards, granite counter tops, fixtures, appliances, even the kitchen sink is gone.
We realize that this has dramatically reduced the value of this home and we would still like to make an offer on this home hire a out of work sub- contractor to work for cash and replace everything back the way it was.

The question I have is when I looked up the property records the home is still listed in the person's name that has defaulted but the clerk and comptroller's office is showing that this person has a judgement against them on this property from back in December.
Is it possible that the records have just not been updated quick enough to show that the bank now owns this home?

What else could be a reason that someone has a final judgement against them and still be listed as the owner of the property?

The outstanding balance owed on this judgement is 322,442.
From what I can see this person owes no other mortgages on this property.

It appears that this person or a contractor was able to access this home and rip out everything.

What should be our next step?

We want to make a cash offer, should we contact the bank directly? The bank is local in our area.

I don't think the home is listed any longer for sale as the for sale sign is gone now. I really don't want to deal with an agent. I would prefer to hire a real estate attorney for this transaction.

Any thoughts or ideas were be great.

Thank you in advance.