Don't fall for the "best and final offer" bullcrap. This is simply a fear-and-frenzy sales tactic designed to scare you into interpreting it as "if you don't come up on price, you're going to lose".
My standard response to this line is "you already have it - take it or leave it". And it worked well on the place we nearly bought 2 years ago - the bank accepted our offer (REO).
Good luck. I'm subscribing too - I really am hoping that a lot of the stuff surrounding foreclosures gets demystified here. Given some of the people that routinely buy them, it can't be THAT difficult. Yes, I'm sure there are pitfalls and "lessons learned" stories that we can all learn from, but once that's done, I'm willing to bet there really isn't anything magical about this process other than being in the right place at the right time and trying to find stuff that's off the beaten path where you won't have to compete against 50 other vultures... er... prospective buyers.
