Tracking down a foreclosure and making an offer

[Jason K Green]

Okay, here's the scenario. There is an abandoned house in my neighborhood. There are stickers posted on the windows stating that the house is abandoned. These stickers were left by a security company. In doing some research, we found that the original mortgage was with bank A. Bank A was subsequently bought by Bank B, which was later bought by Citibank. We have an address for the Citibank REO department, but no other contact info. The house has been abandoned for several years. Possibly as many as five. The balance on the loan when it went into foreclosure appears to be $175k. How would I go about contacting Citibank to make an offer before this house goes to auction? What would a reasonable offer amount be? What are some other questions I should be asking?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.