Ask them questions, who is the seller, what was the problem, how long was it on the market, how can you reach the sellers, let the agent know that you'll pay them a fee if they help you buy the property before the auction.....this will eliminate your competitionbe pro-active, do your research, don't just show up....you need history of the property before you bid, do this and you will succeed, do not do it and you will over-payvisit the property before the auction sale, try to find the owner, ask questions (sometimes you can stop the auction by making an offer to buy directly for the owner (always check the local laws about buying directly from owners in foreclosurs, you would be safe by using an agent, called arms length agreement, you pay the agent for this service.talk to the neighbors, find out what's going on, the history of the property and the ownership, neighbor usually love to talk and will give you some great insightsIs the house vacant, for how long, can you get inside to do an inspectioncheck the public records, what liens are on the property, what violations, back taxes, water bills etcif buying directly form the seller (using an agent), make sure you have a lien and title report to protect you from buying a property with other liens or judgementsOther ideas for you that may help you understand the auction business better:Contact auction companies (always talk to the principle of the company). 

You may want to present your concerns with your broker.If all of your properties have common ownership, (with you owning more than 51% of each property), you can have all llc's under 1 Umbrella policy. 

Since that time, ownership has not changed from his name to the bank's or anyone else's. 

What you do have now is ownership of the property but you do not have possession.  

One for the ownership and one for the management?

Lee:Once upon a time that was a practice used - mostly with commercial real estate - to be able to sell a property along with its current financing and to avoid transfer levies; property tax reassessments, etc.These days the due on sale wording used by lenders includes "change of control" in addition to change in ownership.  

Find out who the latest trustee is or find out through the latest owner of the note so that you can see who currently holds the deed and what going on with it.If the property was seized directly by the court via attachment and the bankruptcy was not settled, the court might still might have direct custody possibly.Keep in mind the county recorders office is just a constructive notice place where people can time stamp their claims of ownership.

He isn't retiring for 8 more years, so he is proposing that I can take ownership now, but not start making payments (at a higher interest rate) for 8 more years.

I believe there may be some additional stipulations with short sales regarding the time-frame frame for which the agent/investor must maintain ownership before resell. 

my wife and I flipped a house with another investor And that went well. We are will be closing on our first two family at the end of January. We are both employed and are working to purchase several more properties in...