Newbie question about forclosure

[Mariah Jeffery]

I have a subscription to realtytrac.com. For a particular property I'm interested in, which is scheduled to be auctioned in Sept., I can see that the "Balance Due" is $157K, but the "Opening Bid" is $110k. Why would the opening bid be less than the balance due? Is the opening bid the amount owed on the first mortgage? If I win the auction, am I going to be responsible for $47K in other loans? If so, do they needed to be paid upfront or are the loans essentially assumed at the rate and terms the previous buyer had them? How do I go about finding what the loans are for?

Thanks,
Mariah

[Jon Holdman]

I see opening bids lower than the amount owed when the lender if also filing a deficiency judgment.

Yes, its possible for you to win a property at auction only to to find out there are other liens still in place. A title search is the best way to discover exactly what's going on.