Then if heirs show up, you aren't in an equity position, you are a secured lender and win whether you buy it or not. 

One might jump on an opportunity to buy a vacation condo on the same block as the arena or the big stadium and unbeknownst to him/her when the hometown boys win the big game the obligatory riot must follow.

Clearly there are many ways to play the game and win. 

I win the bid at 102K.

OK so I am wondering how viable the more experienced guys think this is:I target older people on social security that most likely have their house paid for.I leave a letter from me introducing myself to them and making them aware that I would like to buy their house in a win win seller financing agreementI would tell them that by financing their house themselves, I would pay them a better return than any bond, money market, or savings account.

So it was my position that I could take them.. also it was the day of the sale so the trustee's deed had not been recorded yet.so I send my guys down to snag what amounts to 3 to 5k worth of appliances in box's and the winning bidder showed up..

I placed a big for a property on Homesearch.com a week ago and didn't win.

So for example they pay 100k for the prop and they get the claim worth 100k and make 50k in repairs; property gains value because of updates - total win for the company when they re-sell.

I didn't win the auction at first but then  after a week and half past, I got contacted by homesearch.com that I was the second highest bidder and if I'm still interesting in the property because the highest bidder backed out... 

So many people on BP sugar coat things to make them sound easy (especially if they are selling something or promoting something), and so many people talk a lot about their wins but you rarely hear of their losses (or all the work that went into the wins).