It has been my experience that dealing with bank owned properties is a very tedious process. Especially if the property has not been listed with a Realtor. Tons of phone tag and frustration. Good luck

If you're thinking about going to the bank directly to purchase an REO, think again. They will assign the home to asset managers who will select a Realtor to sell the home. Some lenders will want the home on the MLS for 3-5 days before they even look at offers. Good luck - I know it's frustrating!

It can be done however it will take some leg work

1. You have to determine who owns the property thru public record
A. If you county has a service online you can look that way -we have http://www.emapsplus.com for my area
B. If no online service a trip to the county court house is the only option

2. After you know which lender has the property finding the right person to talk to is the hardest part
A. allot of phone tag and then they give you another name
B. Try Google search REO "lender name"
C. Most lenders use a third party company or "REO COMPANY" to service and deal with REALTOR so don't be surprised if you do all kinds of work and then find out it's been assigned to another company and then guess what the process starts all over again.

Its a headache and good luck and most of the problem is that if you work from 9-5 so does the banks it might be easier to find an agent that’s not too busy with clients to do the leg work for you. They will be hungry to get a sale and most lenders prefer to deal with agents anyway especially if there is a REO company involved.

Last suggestion look in the local paper (and the archives) because it has to be listed in there that it’s a foreclosure if you find your on the right track.