I had alway thought that the process was to get a court judgement on the debt then “garnishee” any future sale of the property and that guaranteed the debt would be recovered.
But I am now reading that if bankruptcy is declared, the garnishing of the sale proceeds lapses and, as “et” suggests, you go down list of creditors.
Perhaps the best tactic is to get the garnishee order then do everything possible to keep the owner solvent. Meanwhile, you could alert local real estate and buyers’ agent to the possibility that the property might be sold, tell them how to contact the owner and let them do all the heavy lifting.
Unleash the hounds!