Buying on the courthouse steps, Sheriff Sale, Tax Sale, etc.....

Everyone calls it something different and I believe there are nuances to each iteration.  I'm wondering if anyone has any good educational resources on how to get started buying "on the courthouse steps"- tax properties, etc.?  Any books you would recommend?

Thanks BP!

Everything you need to know is right here in the forums. Hit the search button, dig around and learn away!

"Buying on the courthouse steps, Sheriff Sale, Tax Sale, etc."

There are in fact multiple real estate related items sold at the court house steps.  

You might not be able to find a single educational source for all of it. So I would recommend you start your search in two main areas :  

1) "bank foreclosure sales"  These are for properties foreclosed by the banks that hold mortgages in houses where the owner is not making payments.

2) "tax sales". These are for properties that have failed to pay property taxes to the county. About 50% of the states conduct tax sales were they convey title (tax deed states)  other 50% have auctions were they just auction a lien on the property (tax lien states). 

It is my firm belief that in order to succeed in the business of real estate, you have to be able to learn on your own, and the best source is a $20-$30 book that you can find in Amazon. 

@Brandon Motuk one reason there is no one resource for this information is the rules vary so much from state to state. In MD where I work, they don't sell tax properties at the courthouse steps. It is a totally different process. The rules for foreclosures are different for every state.  

I have been doing this for 15 years and I just learned that MD does sheriff sales.  Of course I had heard of a Sheriff sales but never one in MD. (mortgage foreclosure auctions here are called "Trustee Sales".