Abandoned Property & Tax sales -- please advise

[Jane Leyderman]

Hi BP-ers,

Like a lot of people, I've been reading this site for a long time, and this is my first post. I am very interested in wholesaling and have just started to really explore it.

I've read that a great source of leads is houses that look abandoned. There's one in my neighborhood--boarded up windows, etc., definitely abandoned.

I looked at the tax assessor's website (I live in Chicago), and saw that the property's taxes had been paid by a tax buyer for the past 3 years. Cook county holds tax sales once a year.

I also looked at the Cook County Circuit Court website and found that the property has a Lis Pendens against it, filed in 2011.

My questions are:
1. If a tax buyer bought the taxes, doesn't that person have a lien against the house/can't they take ownership of the house?
2. Is this place a wholesale candidate?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Jane