NODs vs Notice of Trustee Sale

[Mariah Sanchez]

I am looking through county records to help find me some Whole Saleing leads. I called the office to get some advice from someone who works there about what codes i should be looking up to help me narrow down my searches. The only one they gave me was a Notice of Trustee Sale N/TR. Is this the same as a Notice of Default? I asked, but the gentleman who was working was not giving me a straight answer and the connection was terrible. I googled what a notice of trustee sale is, and from the impression i got, at this point the property is already handed over to the lender who is waiting for the auction date to come. 

-Can I still contact the owner to buy the property and save them from a foreclosure? 

-Is a N/TR the same as a NOD? If not, how do i find NODs? (Looking in Maricopa County, AZ).

-If i can still purchase the property before the auction date, i read somewhere that you only have 21 days from the day the Notice of Trustee is posted. Is this true?

Any more advice for Wholesaling pre-foreclosure homes?

Thank You in Advance!