A house I've had my eye on for a while has come up for sheriff sale. The sale isn't for a few weeks and I have found contact info for the homeowner. Should I connect the HO to see if he and I can make a deal prior to the sale or should I just wait it out?

If I should, then how should I approach the deal with him?

Ryan,

Yep, contact the owner. Find out how much is owed, and see if the deal makes sense. You will have to close quickly, but you could take it ahead of the sale. If you don't get a killer price on it, go to the sale, and see what happens there. Set a limit and stick to it. 

There is more to this than I have laid out, but it's a general sketch of what I would do.

Good Luck,

Jim