The vacant home next door....

[Dennis Small]

Hello everyone! Brand new to the forum but I've been lurking for a bit. I absolutely love it here!

I hope you guys and gals can help me. My house next door has been vacant for 3 years coming up in June. There is a sign posted on the door stating that JPMorgan Chase is maintaining the property and they've had a crew out there mowing and doing other maintenance for the last 2 years. When I look up the property's tax records, it's still in the former owners names.

I would really like to buy this home so that I can turn around and owner-finance to a friend of mine moving here from Florida. His credit is about to be destroyed by losing his home in Florida so I'd like to help him out and get some much-needed learning from this experience.

So what is the next step? I know that the owners just abandoned the property because they couldn't afford to live there anymore. I have a pretty good idea how I can find them as well. Is it too late to do a short-sale? If it's in the foreclosure process, is there any way I can make an offer on it? And why would this be tied up for 3 years?

I apologize if I'm using terms wrong or if these are stupid questions. I'm a total noob but willing to learn. Your help will be appreciated!