You fall behind on your mortgage payments and default, a lender may sell your home through a trustee's sale. The second option is usually foreclosure. The two are only slightly different in terms of what they include, with the trustee's sale being preferred because it allows the lender to recover more of the money lost due to the defaulted loan. Pre-sales: A trustee's sales is normally scheduled at least 90 days in advance of the actual sale. This happens so that a person who has defaulted on a home loan has time to straighten up his financial status and retrieve any potentially lost assets. When a lender chooses to use a trustee's sale, a notice is usually filed with the county recorder's office, and the borrower is given a notice of sale detailing the date of the sale. Investors attend trustee's sales with the hopes of purchasing property for less than market value and reselling it for a profit. Sale: A Trustee’s Sales is similar to an auction, except th...