Buying domain names

[loki]

Just after a bit of advice on buying some domain names. I am interested in purchasing some domain names that expire in Febuary next year. It's from a company that has gone bust and I know the guy who owns them has absolutley no interest in keeping them once they expire. Nor does he have any interest in selling them on now as it isn't worth the hassle in his opinion.

So with these domains Is it just a case of waiting for the date they expire and try and buy them ?? Sounds a pretty naive question. However they were pretty popular and am sure there are some companies/people would buy them just to acution them off.

Is there any service you can register for that does some kind of buying on your behalf as soon as a domain becomes available. I don't want to leave it to chance that they might get sold before I get a chance to buy them. Hope that makes sense