Buying A Pre-Foreclosed Mortgage?

[Cody Plofker]

I'm not the the best category to post this in, so apologies if it should be somewhere else.

I've had my eye on a Multi-family property to househack.

It needs some work, but has a good foundation, 3 units in very close proximity to the main train station in town, plus schools and a shopping center. 

It's listed on Zillow as pre-foreclosure. Has been listed for 500 something days. 

It's currently in development, but I can't tell if there's work that's currently going on or if it's been put on hold. 

Side note: I checked the title and the owner of the property is a contractor who has terrible Google and Yelp reviews and is known as a scammer. I called him, and he didn't acknowledge the pre-foreclosure, instead tried to get me to rent a unit, which isn't close to available. 

While I could wait around and see if he gets desperate and wants to sell, but someone mentioned I should try to buy the mortgage form the lender. 

That way, best case scenario he pays up and I make a small return on investment (I think he has a shorter loan so interest rates might be higher, around 8%), best case scenario is he doesn't pay and I can take the property, at a large discount. 

So my questions are: 

1) Has anyone ever done this before? If so any advice is welcomed. 

2) I found the lender (It's a private lender in NYC who offers short term Residential Fix To Rent loans) . What should I say when I contact them, and what information do I need to be able to know if this is a worthwhile plan or not? 

Thanks in advance!