Would like to buy the foreclosed house two houses from me

[Romel Llarena]

I am so happy to have found this site!

My apologies if some of the subject matter has been covered in previous threads, but I am so new to this process that I'm not even sure what questions to ask.

Background:
I live in a pretty well off community. It's not unheard of for homes to sell in the million dollar range which can seem ridiculous since this is the Metro Detroit area after all. I do say that my family lives on the POOR side of town by the train tracks because literally, the railroad runs about 3/4 mile from my house. Most of the homes on my street run about 1,000-1,500 sq/ft, 1940s post war breadboxes. When times were good we were seeing teardowns on a regular basis and those were going for about $500K for about 2,300 sq/ft. That's not really the case anymore. There's even a 1/3 finished tear-down about 1/2 mile from me. New foundation, framed, and wrapped and work stopped on it about 5 months ago.

Anyhow, I think even with the economy there is alot of potential here. We live on what's considered a sizeable lot for the area 40 X 170. I always told myself if another house on the block came on sale for a good price, I would certainly consider it.

The house two homes from me recently had a foreclosure notice on the door. I believe the amount owed was $216K. Quick background, I kind of knew the owners. Basically, it was a mom, her son (46 years old), and his son (20 years old). The mom died about three years ago. Her son "bought" the house for $165K and distributed the money to siblings so I'm assuming he was in the hole for $165K, if not more. He then put in a few improvements, new kitchen and a new driveway. Then about two years ago, he met someone, got married and moved into her house. He had his house for rent up until I would say Thanksgiving of '08. It's been empty ever since. I'm actually concerned the house was not winterized as I never saw any smoke coming from the vents.

Anyhow, as I had mentioned, I saw the foreclosure noticed posted. I could kick myself for not writing down the bank. It has gone to Sheriffs auction where I'm told they almost never get bid on.

The house is just sitting there, literally rotting. Worst case, I plan on cleaning up the front yard just to keep the neighborhood looking nice, but I'm really thinking of making an offer.

I understand a good rule of thumb, if I were to rent is about 1% of the purchase price. Anyhow, I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

I'm hoping fellow board members can walk me through the next steps.

Thanks in advance.

RRL