Most likely there is a legal minimum for your state and this will be the opening bid for the property.

Do we need a lawyers to look at our lease agreement, and are there other legal issues to be aware of?

An essential element of Abandoned in the legal sense is that the owner has either expressly (orally or in writing), or implicitly relinquished his rights to the property. 

First, I would subscribe to Pre-Paid Legal.

Hire a real estate attorney to check on the property to find out if there is a likelihood of re-zoning and other legal issues.

mini update*my attorney believes it might be a descriminatory practice to allow certain individuals (homeowners before 6/05) to rent and restrict it to others (homeowners after 6/05).it should be all or none. so basically we'll see what kind of deal he can swing, maybe get them to grandfather me given the circumstances of the sale. but it just blows my mind no one else who purchased after 6/05 ever complained about this. i mean, how many people would buy a condo knowing they have no flexibility to rent if the need arose??

I am speaking about what is known as the "Redemption Periods" the previous owners have and the restrictions placed on the titles.This is an advanced auction and is best suited for an investor that has extra money available that they won't miss while it is tied up in the property.I am in no way suggesting that tax sales are not good investments.

I'm talking about all the legal stuff.

and your wasting your time..hard money is private money, its not the same federal money(conventional) hence the restrictions are not the same..

One of the keys to a smooth short sale is to find out the pay-off and any additional fees i.e. homeowner's, legal, taxes ect...upfront.