Is there a way to purchase a property prior to auction?

[Sam Leon]

Here is the situation. Back in April I saw a property on MLS that I had previously driven by and had mentally made a note, that if it ever becomes available I would be interested in purchasing it and rent it out. When it came up I called my buyer agent and asked her to get me some info and set up an appt to see. Well she called back in 2 hours and said it's already pending first day on market and they are not taking any backup offers either. OK fine.

I was just randomly browsing the properties in that area and noticed it is now not on the market but it's scheduled for an auction on Sep 18, 2013.

I don't want to try to get it via auction, as I am not familiar with that process and don't want to take all the risks associated with that. So my options are to either wait for it to become REO and available...or may be someone else will buy it at auction. However, is it possible at this point, to see if a deal can be worked out as a short sale to prevent the foreclosure? Or more then likely the bank was being unreasonable and that's why it's got to this point?

Who would I contact to inquire of this possibility? The owner? The original listing agent?