Finding Foreclosure Listings

All states require foreclosures to be announced in a public notice. These are located in the newspaper, most of the time in free mailers that are received once a week. Once the foreclosure is listed in the newspaper it is up for auction. You can try to contact the owner and buy or you can wait and bid at auction. This is the last step in the foreclosure process and can be the time to get a great deal.

There are many sites on the internet that have foreclosure information. They gather the information for you and put it in a format, usually by county. These sites usually require a fee, either monthly or yearly. There is a lot of competition for the listings found at websites because many more people have access to them then those you would find elsewhere. You may also not be getting current information, so it is always best to check out a site like this before paying any fees.

Real estate agents are another good way to find foreclosures. Most of the properties you will find here are properties that have already been bought back by the bank. You may find some discount in the price, but most likely the bank is trying to get as much as they can to recover their loss through the sell of the property. These properties may also be listed by owners in pre-foreclosure and that is where you may be able to deal a little more. Once you get the listings from the realtor you can check to see if it is bank owned or not and then determine if it is worth looking at.

You can also try to gather information through more informal methods. If everyone you associate with knows you are into real estate investing then you have an opportunity to learn by word of mouth about foreclosures. This may be the most lucrative option because you may end up finding out about a foreclosure before it even gets started. For example, if a friend’s uncle is having problems and knows he is going to go into foreclosure and that friend tells you then you have a jump on all the other competition. Word of mouth is a long time marketing tool and in real estate gives you a competitive edge.

All foreclosures are documented at the local court. You can go there and research the records yourself. This may be the most time consuming method without much payoff. You may run into properties that are no longer in foreclosure or that have already been sold. Try other methods first to get the best deals.

Once you find a property you need to know how to use this information. The basic things you should know are: - If it is to be auctioned, what is the time and date?
- How much the property is selling for and what amount of time do you have to get the money.
You should then schedule a time to look at the property. You will need to assess how much rehabilitation it will take to get the property ready for you to resell if you buy it. You can then make an offer or pass on the foreclosure.

Finding foreclosure information is quite easy if you know where to look. Foreclosure is bad for both home owners and banks. Everyone is looking to get there money out of it, so be aware of what makes a good deal and what doesn’t. Do your research carefully and know what to look for. You should be able to get a good real estate investment through a little know-how and hard work.