banks underbidding at sheriff sale

[Dustin Gott]

I have noticed the banks are still bidding in some cases well below what was owed on the mortgage at the sheriff sale. If you were to go to the homeowner could you purchase the property for that lowered amount? Is there a better way to do this? I have searched through the archives and found a few discussions on this topic but not much in how to approach this. Any thoughts?