You can contact them, but they’re not going to sell it to you....at some point they will put it on the mls or one of the REO auction sites.  

Doug I have met many mainly when I bought their home at auction because they let their kids borrow against it and blow the money.and of course in my 30 plus years of loaning HM I have seen a bunch of this activity over the years.18 months ago I had a wholesaler contact me ( which is rare because I generally wont talk to them)  but he got through to me and it was a property in Charleston SC were I build.. and the price was right .. but when I did a quick title search I saw that he had recorded a power of attorney for this lady that spelled out that he could sell the house and pay her 100k  and he was offering it to me for 196k.. so I called him on it.. and said hey there.. this lady obviously does not know what she has  the value is in the lot.. so no real up side as is unless you build a new home so for me to buy it at 196 was about market.. 

Hello everyone,I recently came across a discussion on BP that directed my attention to state post auction properties.

Give a 5 day notice, and then have a garage sale or auction.

I was able to find the owner who said the house was condemned and said they were going to auction it off.

Hi,I buy auction properties in different markets and I always reach out to local real estate agents to ask them questions about the local market.  

Hi Ukee,A super easy way is to show up at the local courthouse auctions.

Check the auctioneer's website to see what type auction it is.

@Rickey Wiley When it comes to foreclosure auctions, you need to have the cash before you actually have the property (you have to pay right when you bid).

I've purchased from foreclosure auctions in Queens before, and the margins arent that wide.