Buying foreclosure home as a first purchase

[Jason Kim]

Hi All, 

I am new to the real estate world and have a couple questions regarding foreclosures: 

1. Im currently reviewing foreclosure lists provided by our county site. Ive seen a handful of homes that look in great shape and assume maybe the seller just found themselves in a bad financial situation and can not keep the home. A couple of these homes look so great i would want to purchase one for my first residence. 

What is the recommended method of offering payment for such a house if it were on MLS or not? Would i be able to put 10%, 20% down and then work with a traditional lender to handle the rest? Would i have to put significantly more than 20%?

2. What would be my options to identify all liens/financial obligations? Is the seller obligated to note these if any? 

Thanks in advance.