Wholesaling a home with a lien.

[Tiko D. Blane]

Hi BP Community, 

I am looking to do my first deal this week. A wholesale deal. After speaking to the owner, they informed me the property has a$16k judgement against it. The lien is from previous work that was done on the home. Strategy 1 is to get the property at 16k or less and assign my contract to another investor for about $25k.  Strategy 2 is to find out who the lien holder is & offer them $5k-8k to settle and release the lien as paid in full & give give the homeowner $3-5k so they walk away with some cash. I think if it's possible, strategy 2 is a win win for the home owner. (They are very motivated to sell btw.) 

Questions. Is it possible to assign a contract with a lien on it? Should I ask the homeowner who the lien holder is so that I can contact them and offer to settle? Should I tell the lien holder I'm an investor or is that too much information? Where can I go to find out who the lien holder is?  Are there any other strategies you can think of in this situation? Has anyone else done a deal similar to this? If so how did you handle it?