Foreclosed homes in Canada can be sold in two ways:

- Courthouse auction sale. You need to check the courthouse assistant/clerk to verify any available sales and the dates.When the bids do not cover the mortgage balance, the mortgage lender (most times the bank) will buyout the property. Note that, you cannot finance to buy such a property. You need to pay the balance on the date of the sale. No house inspection is allowed. You take it as it-is.

- Realtor or MLS listings. Most foreclosure homes in Canada are sold by realtor even before they are listed on any foreclosure listings in Canada. The procedure is like buying a regular property: you can finance the house, do house inspection and pay no commission to anyone. 

How to buy foreclosure homes

On the courthouse sale, you have no option but win by the highest bid.

To buy a home that is going into foreclosure from either the owner or the realtor, you simply make an offer to the home owner. If the offer is not sufficient enough to cover the mortgage balance, the mortgage bank has to approve the offer in this case. Or you will likely receive a counter offer from the vendor. If the house is already in foreclosure, you only need to deal with the bank or the representative of the bank. To check if a house is going into foreclosure. simply check with the city hall clerk.

You might want to find a realtor who has experience to work for you in this case. An agent who is familiar with foreclosures properties and the area where you look for houses may already has all the information you need. It is always easier to buy foreclosed homes from the bank directly than to buy at the courthouse auctions. Try to avoid buy foreclosed homes in court steps, so you do not have to deal with evicting occupants, house inspection and competitions from other eager buyers.