Is it to late to buy this type of property?

[Ebahi Ejerekhile]

I'm selecting my criteria for a list and came across 'foreclosure effective date".  This is described as:

The foreclosure effective date represents when an official legal document or action is accepted by the county office recognizing that a loan has entered a particular phase of the foreclosure process. This date is a combined search including default, filing and recording dates.

Does it mean the county office recognizes the house is behind in fees/payments and that the house will go into pre-foreclosure?

Would you buy an earlier or later date of this type of criteria?