How do I contact a home owner in distress?

[David Garbe]

There is a home down the street from me that I found on my local Sheriff's Sale website. The Upset Value is only $32K, and I know that other homes in the area are going for at least $125K. The property has been coming close to auction for the past two years, but then gets adjourned before any offers can be made. Literally, this has bene happening for over two years. After calling the township, I found out that there are no liens on the home. So I called the attorney associated with the property and was told that the owner has filed for Chapter13 bankruptcy. Thus, I was told the bank cannot take ownership of the home (to sell it at auction or as an REO) until the bankruptcy issue has been resolved. At this point, it appears as though the residents are living there for free, but nothing can legally be done with the house until the Chapter13 clears up.

Therefore, i was wondering if anyone had any advice how I could reach out to the owners directly in order to offer to buy their home. I obviously want to "pitch" it as a "win-win" situation. They can hopefully resolve their financial issues and I can hopefully get a steal of a property. Does anyone have any input or advice? Would this be worth trying to reach out to them directly to see if I can somehow take the payments off of their hands? I am very new to REI, but am trying to think creatively and "out of the box". Advice? Ideas? Need more information to offer advice?

Thanks for reading and helping.

Dave