IRS Tax Lien Question

[David Weis]

I'm looking at purchasing a property here in Tampa, Florida. The owner has 16 properties. An IRS lien was filed in 2011 for $176K. But it was not attached to any property. It was just a general lien against the owner in general. The house would not sell on the open market for more than $70K. We are offering $50K.

I'm assuming if we buy the house, all the money will go to the IRS. Does that sound correct? Would the IRS stop the sale and demand $176K be paid for the house?