I'm going to be transparent and see what kind of advice and wisdom I can get. 

Best of luck to you and your new firm, and please share your wisdom.

I've been around the REI space long enough to know it goes against conventional wisdom so I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts:My wife and I have been working on paying off debt and have paid off over $200k in the past 6 years.

Which is why wisdom comes with experience. 

@Mark Miles great wisdom!

Thanks again for your time sharing your wisdom here. 

You are like the Real Estate Monk, the one with all the wisdom :) Always enjoy it when you post to a thread.

We own a very similar property already on the street, we know the buildings, the comps for sale/rent and the rehab budgets intimatelyWe also like the area as it is starting to really break out.we are wondering if in a foreclosure auction with an estate/probate/personal rep whether any/all of the parties might be able to consummate a deal prior to the auction.We are not convinced the personal rep would see benefit in doing so, but we dont have a great feel for whether local laws allow an estate/personal rep handling a foreclosure to sell prior to the auction etc.any wisdom here?

@Michael Zuber,  thank you for your wisdoms

Again, it is our first job as investors to establish a solid foundation of information, so to speak; so we must always temper the advice of our advisors with our own wisdom, even if that advisor is a structural engineer or general contractor.