trustee's sale is the last step of foreclosure

There are 3 stages when you can buy a foreclosed property:

1. Short sale: when the owner is late, and bank starts to foreclose. At this time, the house still belongs to the owner, but not for long.

2. When the bank forecloses, some places go through sheriff's sale, other places go through trustees' sale. The general setting is somewhere near the court house. The auctioneer will sell the house to highest bidder. The bank is always there, most time represented by the auctioneer. If no other people want the house, the bank will get it. This is the last step of foreclosure.

3. After this the bank owns the house. And when they sell it, it's called REO sale.

Hope this helps.
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