What to do with foreclosure leads

[Kyle B.]

I ran across my county's online file system and discovered they list mortgage foreclosures for properties in the county. My question is how do I best act upon these leads. If I contact the homeowners, would my negotiating points be that they can try to work out a shortsale between myself and the bank before heading to foreclosure or will the foreclosure process have already started and I'll just be to late to the party. Interested in hearing the best way to utilize this information. 

Thanks!

Kyle