Buying a short-sale/soon to be foreclosure

I recently learned of a situation where the bank denied an offer the owner(s) received on their short-sale home and they are nowfacing foreclosure. Although, I have the income and credit to obtain a mortgage for the property, I would prefer to preserve my credit to leverage for two flipping opportunities I foresee in the near future. Ideally, I would like to take personal ownership of the home (via seller financing or some other creative means besides conventional/FHA) for a few years before reselling. Without much experience in wholesaling, short-sales, or foreclosures, I was hoping someone might be able to suggest a few options for me to acquire the property before it goes into foreclosure and/or the bank puts it on market for me to compete with others investors, etc.