Seller left the country...Short Sale?

[Kevin Pajek]

Hi everyone!

I am new to investing and have been searching for deals. I think I may have found one that is actually one street over from mine. I was driving around searching for houses and came across a one with tall grass that looked abandoned. I wrote down the address and came home and did some research on it. Later on in the day I drove by again and saw a car in the driveway. I stopped and asked the woman if she owned the house. She told me it was her father's house and that he left the country. She does have a way to contact him and gave me her information as well. She says the bank is going to be foreclosing on the property and that her dad took out a reverse mortgage on the property. The approximate ARV of this house is $150K. I don't know how much the man owes on the property.

My question is this...what do I do now? Do I get the owner to get permission for me to speak with the bank and find out exactly how much is owed on the property? Do I then negotiate with the bank?Not really sure where to go from here.

Thanks.