Is this a legit short sale opportunity?

[Hobart King]

Hi -

Weird situation I wanted to ask BP about.

Got a call from a mailer and here are the details:

1. Call was from the daughter of the owner who is now deceased. She is interested in selling the property.

2. There used to be a house on this property which the family tore down. I have no idea why.

3. There was HELOC made by a local bank for 130k on this property. I think the balance is for more than what the land is worth.

4. The original owner has not been paying the loan for some time (I think 2 years) and they have gotten a notice of default and foreclosure. However the lender has not actually foreclosed.

I think they haven't foreclosed because there is no foreclosure deed recorded and the owner in CRS is the original owner.

The bank obviously is going to lose a lot of money on this now that the structure is gone.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get the bank to engage in potentially doing a short sale? My thoughts were try to get the property under contract for a low amount of money and then call the bank to see if they will negotiate?

Thanks for any and all advice!