Is there a way to make $ on house I'm living in before auction?

[Linda King]

I am a realtor and I have been housesitting and making repairs to a house that the owner has apparently just walked away from and is not responding to anyone, including the bank. She left Austin for Chicago 7 months ago and has not made the payments in all that time, there are warrants for her arrest and I doubt that she will ever come back. A letter came last week from attorneys requesting the accelarated loan amount of 117K and informing that house is scheduled for auction May 5th. I have about 8K in the house from repairs I have made. There was no lease or anything in writing at all but our verbal agreement was that I could live here rent free if making the numerous repairs needed or $500 a month if I was not making repairs. I have not paid the owner anything.

The house is on 1.1 acres in a prime location and is probably worth 200K in this market and still needs one bathroom put back after she had torn everything but the plumbing out.

I have a buyer that is looking for fixer upper in this area but I have not mentioned this house to him because it is not listed and the owner is not responding. I would like to sell it to my client and make some money out of it before the auction. How should I proceed? I have thought about putting a lien on it for the money I have in it but since I have been living in it and not paying rent, I don't know if that is the right thing to do.

I feel that I fell into this situation for a reason - to make a good deal out of it for everyone involved but I don't know how to make that happen.

All advise is welcome
lin in austin