The key to your success in buying property in foreclosure is going to be organization. For this you need to have foreclosure investing software with a database that provides you with all the information that can enable you to locate in your area properties in foreclosure that have large equities. The software should allow you to choose about a dozen candidates, of which you take photographs and enter them into the software.

Your first step is to contact the owners of the properties. Since 9 out of 10 foreclosures are single family residences, most of the owners can be found at the properties. You can reach owners in different ways. The most obvious is the telephone – if it is listed and if it is still connected. But generally, your most efficient methodology will be a letter writing campaign.

Using the data from your foreclosure investing software, you will find that seventy percent or more properties in foreclosure will have equity at some level. You should send letters to all of these people. Further, you will need to send letters repetitiously. Keep in mind that it may take numerous letters before you can attract the attention of an owner in foreclosure. A unique letter will be helpful. This is not as expensive as it sounds. A postage stamp costs less than fifty cents, so you can mail 100 letters for less than fifty dollars. You should have a campaign of sending 200-300 letters per month. Results are virtually guaranteed if you are consistently mailing.

You only need to send letters to the people on your daily list of foreclosures you will get from your foreclosure investing software and you will be successful. Every month, a number of people will contact you asking whether you can assist them. Spending a few hundred dollars per month is well worth it when you can make $25,000 or more for every foreclosure purchased, especially when you consider there is no other overhead.

Experience has shown that a low key approach, whether in person or by mail, is your best course. Your goal is to have a meeting in which you can discuss their problem and how to resolve it. The usual approach is for you to offer a sum of money in addition to paying the existing monthly payments that are overdue. You have to leave a significant profit for yourself, and the best way to explain this is, that if you take over the mortgage, pay the owner money, fix up the property for sale, and wait for it to sell, you have to receive a profit for your efforts and risk. Your ultimate goal of your negotiation, of course, is to pay the owner the smallest amount of money possible for his equity. If can’t make a profit, you must move on to the other properties.

Using your foreclosure investing software, you are able to find properties with equity. However, there is also a way to make money with properties that have no equity. You do this through a “short” sale with the lender, that is, by paying them off at an amount lower than the existing balance. In a hot market in properties this is extremely difficult because the lender has no motivation to reduce the loan. But in a soft market, some lenders may be interested in receiving a lower sum and walking away from the foreclosure.

They would do so because foreclosures usually take about six months, causing lenders significant costs, as well as the fact that lenders have to pay large expenses to fix and sell properties. In a short sale you will also need the cooperation of the buyer and normally he will receive nothing, except relief from the foreclosure. For many this is enough, because of the extreme pressure they have been under.

You shouldn’t even think of prospecting for foreclosure properties, no matter what stage they might be at, without first-class up to date information from reliable foreclosure investing software. You can get a complete, up to date and reliable database of over 1.2 million foreclosures, and much more, with the foreclosure investing software available at: Foreclosure Data.

Before you dive into the exciting world of property foreclosure investing, you should probably be aware of the pros and cons of buying a pre-foreclosed or foreclosed home…

Pros

1. Lower price and higher profit

Pre-foreclosures and foreclosures usually always sell for less than their actual market value – sometimes 20 to 50 percent below the market cost. Among other things, this means that if you turn around and sell the property, you should make a sizable profit.

Nowadays, you can use a short sale to negotiate a lower price with the lender. This is an extremely powerful technique for building equity out of thin air.

2. Rehab potential

Many pre-foreclosures and foreclosures need repairs and renovations. If you know how to rehab a home without spending too much money, you may be able to substantially and cost-effectively increase the value of the home.

3. Lower settlement costs

Since you are often dealing with vendors wanting to get rid of the pre-foreclosed or foreclosed property as soon as possible, you can often get them to agree to lower down payments, better financing options, lower closing costs, and reductions on other settlement costs.

4. Access to the property

Most foreclosure homes are vacant, which means you can often get access to a foreclosed property as soon as you buy it.

Either that or the homeowner knows he/she needs to move out in a short amount of time.

5. More attractive financing

If you’re buying a foreclosure from a bank, they may offer you attractive financing to make the deal more appealing to you.

So what are the cons to investing in pre-foreclosures and foreclosures?

Cons

1. Hidden liens and liabilities

It’s not uncommon for pre-foreclosed and foreclosed homes to carry liens and unpaid taxes. As the new owner, you’ll have to pay these. Sometimes a home owner or seller may not reveal these liens and liabilities to you. However, the good news is that you can find this information relatively easily with a title search and, if necessary, some other research.

2. Poor condition

Just as many pre-foreclosures and foreclosures are ripe for rehabbing… you can also expect many of these to be in extremely poor condition. Unless you’ve budgeted for the required repairs and/or renovations, you may be in for a nasty shock. On the other hand, if you inspect the property or (if buying the property unseen at auction) budget for the worst, such repairs may be well within your budget.

3. Learning curve

Buying pre-foreclosures and foreclosures requires an understanding of the legal foreclosure process. You also need to be familiar with how to locate potential investment properties and, ideally, discover them when they first enter the pre-foreclosure stage of foreclosure proceedings. This can be a hassle for some property investors who prefer the relatively straightforward process involved in buying regular properties. However, once you’re familiar with how to buy pre-foreclosures and foreclosures, you may discover that it isn’t really all that burdensome at all.

Overall, pre-foreclosures and foreclosures are a great investment… provided you’re willing to understand what buying such homes involves, and are prepared for the educated risks. You need the proper education such as with http://www.ForeclosuresUnleashed.net. Most importantly, you need to apply the information that you learn!

Before I begin, you should know my name is Ross Treakle and I interview real estate investors as part of my job. In each interview I try and pick and pry at each investor to get the highest quality information so that my subscribers can hear up to date, high content interviews.

Below I have taken an exert from the very first interview I ever conducted. I conducted this interview with my brother, Graham “Mr. Banker” Treakle. Graham is a short sale investor with special insider knowledge as he has worked in some of the nation’s largest banking institutions.

I always start off every interview asking the speaker to speak briefly about there particular area of expertise. Below is Graham’s answer to what a short sale is and why banks accept short sales.

“We’ll go over the numbers, Ross. A short sale is pretty simple. If you have a property that’s worth $150,000 and let’s say it has a first mortgage for $100,000 and a second mortgage for $40,000-what that means is the total debt on that property, or the total mortgages, is $140,000. Being a real estate investor, I wouldn’t want to buy a $150,000 house for $140,000. It doesn’t make sense.

A short sale is when you get the bank to not take $140,000, you get them to take less, like $110,000. The banks are going to do this for several reasons. First, they’re going to have a lot of expenses that are associated with a foreclosure. They’re going to have realtor’s costs, foreclosure costs, holding costs, repair costs-they’re going to have all sorts of fees associated with a foreclosure.

Inevitably, the bank is only going to recoup somewhere around 70% of the value of the property. That’s why banks will take short sales on foreclosures. The natural follow-up to that is, “Why are foreclosures such a hot commodity right now, and why is there a lot of buzz about them?” There are several reasons to that too, and it’s really scaring the banks right now.

The first one is: when I was at the bank and someone had equity in their home and I found out they had equity, I would call them up and say, “Hey, Mr. Smith, I see you have $30,000 in equity in your home. How would you like to get a home equity line of credit?” Or, “How would you like to pay off that car with a home equity loan?”

So banks are constantly calling these homeowners to use equity in their home because there are some potential tax savings in structuring your finances that way. That’s one of the things.

Secondly, inflation is outpacing wage growth. That means what it takes for you to buy milk and eggs today is going to increase faster than how much your earnings are going to increase on average. For instance, if you have someone who’s making $100,000 a year, let’s say inflation is 3% and your raise every year is 1.5%. So inflation is growing at twice the rate your salary is. That’s another component. That means folks are earning less and less, relative to the goods they’re going to have to buy.

The next thing is that a lot of folks may recall this brief refinance boom we’ve been going through, which is pretty important. People went out and got a lot of mortgages called “Adjustable Rate Mortgages,” which have an extraordinarily low interest rate to start, let’s say 3% in some cases. But in a couple of years, maybe two to five, depending on the term of the Adjustable Rate Mortgage, their rate is going to go up, it’s going to adjust upward.

So people went out and bought more house than they could normally afford, or they refinanced, got the low payments, and bought a car that they couldn’t afford if their payment had to adjust upward. What’s going to happen here in the next two to five years is that all of these ARMs are going to be adjusting upward, and that’s pretty critical because people aren’t going to be able to afford them.

They aren’t going to be able to afford them because they didn’t count on it, and also because inflation is outpacing wage growth. All of this sounds great, but you may say, “How is that going to affect my business?”

Here’s the way it affects your foreclosure real estate business. If you’re in a judicial foreclosure State, where properties that are in foreclosure go through a judicial process before a foreclosure is complete; or a non-judicial foreclosure State, where the properties go through a trustee as they’re going through a foreclosure-you’re going to see less and less equity in these properties.

So if you know, like I said earlier, that banks are going to take short sales because of the numbers-meaning they have to pay all of these expenses-and the foreclosed properties aren’t going to have a lot of equity in them, you have to be able to negotiate short sales effectively if you’re going to be working in the foreclosure market.

The foreclosure market represents the most motivated sellers. Traditionally, with motivated sellers, you’ll find really good deals. That’s why banks are going to take foreclosures on the conditions that are spurring on all these foreclosures. It’s an amazing phenomenon that we’re working on right now.

Folks might also ask about a common [inaudible]. Well, what if we’re in a real estate bubble? If we’re in a real estate bubble, that means values are going to go down, which means folks are going to owe more than what their property is worth. Again, negotiating short sales is going to be critical to your success in the foreclosure business. If we’re not in a bubble, that’s fine too.

We already [backed out] the numbers; still negotiating short sales is going to be critical to your real estate business because people are borrowing up to, and sometimes above 100% of the value of their property. Whatever way you slice it, as far as having a skill, negotiating short sales is probably, in my opinion, one of the most lucrative skills that someone can have as a real estate investor.”

I hope the above information gives you some insight into the world of real estate investing and short sales. Graham has worked very hard at becoming an expert on this topic and is a resource you should inevitably add to your business. If you would like to hear more information similar to this exert and many other interviews please visit my site at and sign up to receive all of my interviews at absolutely no cost. Also, if you would like to learn more about Graham “Mr. Banker” Treakle you can follow this link to his website.

There are many reasons a Home Buyer or Investor may consider buying a pre foreclosure home. The number one reason is savings. As a first time home buyer you want to save as much money as possible. As an Investor you want to find amazing deals in order to resale the pre foreclosure home and make a substantial profit or rent the home out and receive monthly income from the home. When purchasing a pre foreclosure home there are several steps to consider to aide in your success.

The first step is developing a tracking system that works for you.

You want to create a well planned tracking system to keep track of the pre foreclosure home properties that are interesting to you. As a pre foreclosure home buyer or investor you may be looking at several homes over a small period of time and a pre foreclosure home may not stay on the market for very long. Most home owners that are facing the crisis of losing their home and credit failure are considering many options to avoid foreclosure. In most cases, the home owner is facing a troubled financial dilemma and is moving fast in order to get the home sold or reinstate the loan. You have to move faster in order to beat out the competition. A well organized tracking system can help you keep up with the pre foreclosure homes you are pursuing.

The second step is to view the pre foreclosure homes.

This idea is great for many reasons; such as, gathering information regarding the home and its current condition. Pre foreclosure homes are sold as is in most cases and you definitely want to know what you are getting yourself into. You also want to know the type of neighborhood the pre foreclosure home is located. This will also give you an opportunity to speak with the home owner and learn how you may be of service to the home owners needs. This brings us to the third step.

Verifying the pre foreclosure home status.

While the home is in pre foreclosure status the home owner has an opportunity to settle any conflict and reinstate the home loan by paying the amount he or she defaulted. The home owner is usually given a few months to do so. Of course, if the home owner pays the defaulted amount, this process stops any foreclosure action and the pre foreclosure home is off the market. To verify the status of a pre foreclosure home you may contact the attorney assigned to the foreclosure of the home or the Trustee.

The fourth step is making contact with the home owner.

This is an opportunity for you to explain to the home owner that you are seeking a pre foreclosure home and you’re interested in the home. Be prepared and ready to answer any question including how much you are offering and how you will make the purchase.

Now that you are organized, know which pre foreclosure homes are available and which ones are not. If you take the final step to contact the home owner you are ahead of the game and ready to take to final steps to a great investment.

Recent findings have shown that Chicago is sitting at the top of the list for metropolitan areas with properties in foreclosure. This position has resulted from an increased number of borrowers defaulting on their payments. Chicago foreclosure homes are widely available today, with housing values that are constantly declining. The Internet presents Chicago foreclosure listings for prospective real estate investors and also for homebuyers with a tight budget.

Chicago foreclosure homes have truly affordable prices and thus, they represent a great deal for many people. The wide range of properties offered through Chicago foreclosure listings is enticing, to be sure. All these homes are presented in detail, with comprehensive information and photo galleries, in order to give one a better idea of what the property actually looks like. These amazing deals refer to Chicago government homes but also to federal properties and bank owned houses. If you want to see the listings for Chicago foreclosure homes, then you will have to enter online.

Once a property is foreclosed, the next step is for it to be introduced into a public auction. There are plenty of auctions that take place online and the offers are extremely diverse. There are specialized websites in Chicago foreclosure homes, providing detailed information on how these properties are sold and also putting to the disposal of their customers Chicago foreclosure listings. For anyone interested in distressed properties, the Internet is a wonderful resource. All the properties have amazing prices, below market value and they present one with the opportunity for great savings, especially if we consider bank-owned houses.

The foreclosure storm in Chicago is not unique. All over America the trend is the same. More and more homeowners use their properties as collateral for a mortgage and end up defaulting on the payments. As they have no means to repay the accumulated debt, the bank has no other solution than to foreclose the property in question. The legal proceedings for foreclosure take some time but once the property is advertised at a public auction, there is not much time before a buyer appears. In rare cases, the previous owner finds the necessary money to redeem the property. More often, Chicago foreclosure homes are purchased at discounted prices by various investors or homebuyers.

There are many real estate investors dedicated to the purpose of finding Chicago foreclosure homes at extremely low prices. For them, Chicago presents numerous investing opportunities whereas foreclosure properties are involved. The Internet offers access to extensive and detailed Chicago foreclosure listings, with postings for foreclosure homes, bank owned and federal properties, government homes, with attractive offers for HUD and VA properties.

HUD Chicago foreclosure homes represent properties that are currently owned by the government as the owner was unable to keep up with the monthly payments. Upon foreclosure, the property was repossessed and ended up in the hands of the government agency. Chicago foreclosure listings contain many of such properties, offering a high potential for investments and important savings at start. However, HUD homes also represent a great deal for homebuyers.

There are many reasons why you should use professional Chicago foreclosure listings. If you find a reliable resource to help you out, then you will not need to search in another place. These listings include offers for HUD properties and other government-owned homes, such as repo houses. The choice for Chicago foreclosure homes include: condominiums, town houses and single-family homes. Take your time and decide which type you desire, check out the prices and other additional details. And remember, investing in Chicago foreclosure homes can prove out to be a very profitable business.

If you want to be a competitive vendor in the market of real estate, you must know the technique of short sales. The main advantage of this technique is to allow discount to real estate investors from the lender.

What are short sales in real estate investing?

A short sale process comes in the picture when lender accepts a discount on mortgage in order to avoid a possible bankruptcy or foreclosure auction. In this method, instead of buying the property from a seller itself, you have to purchase the corresponding property from the lender. As an advantage you will get a handsome discount on that property. For instance, suppose a home owner facing foreclosure, has an existing mortgage of $400,000. Then you offer to the lender directly for $300,000, which may be accepted as a full payment loan.

The question arises here that why they are willing to accept this kind of deal and give discounts? Well, there are two main reasons behind this deal. First reason, banks do not want bad loans to be written on their books or record because bad record hinder the growth of the banks. Therefore, whenever banks get the opportunity to sell the property without any huge loss, they will sell it. Second reason, lenders know that if property goes to auction, they will pay heavy loss because if the property goes for auction, there are so many fees involved in it. Thus, they would give discount and finished it.

It is the best time to jump in the short sale process of real estate and invest in it since the foreclosures are increasing rapidly.

Lenders’ willing to give discount

Almost every lender offers discount. Market is inundating with lenders, who are willing to give discounts. It might be possibility that you find lender who dose not provide any discount but it is rare. Only two or three lenders in many may not offer any loan or provide small discount.

What kind of property is best for investing in short sale?

According to shrewd investors in short sale investing system, the best property for investing is the houses that requires lot of repair and renovation because on these kinds of properties, lender will give you a huge amount of discount to investors. Properties that are leveraged are also very good for investing. Most experienced investors are willing to invest in over leveraged properties.

Properties having large amount of second mortgages are also recommended as gold because second mortgage can be eradicated at the foreclosure auction.

Important step while dealing in short sale

There are many steps required to take while dealing in short sales. But the most vital step is to getting the deed of property. Most of the investors forget this essential step while investing in short sale. It might be the case when, homeowners change their minds, and want to back out from the deal as they scared or in other case, they want to do negotiation again. If you have property deed then you could easily escape from the trap, otherwise you might get in trouble by bearing heavy losses.

Foreclosures are reaching new levels and about to go even higher in 2008. It is becoming imperative that Realtors and real estate investors become learn the art of the short sale and to use it to increase their sales production There is a right way and a wrong way to do approach a short sale.

Learning and implementing the following 5 secrets to short sale success will allow you to gain proficiency in doing and successfully completing short sales. If you are investor you can create equity where none existed. If you are a real estate agent you can sell homes that are upside down even in a bad market.

Secret 1 – Submit a complete package. Do not submit an incomplete package to the lender. If you do it will more than likely be put on the bottom of the pile. Make sure to include all the required information in the order specified my the lender and that every item is completely legible. This is an absolutely critical first step.

Secret 2 – Make a careful estimate of the current market value of the property and structure your offer accordingly The initial offer is critical to getting the short sale off to a good start. As you do more and more short sales you will become familiar with how various lenders work and how they react to offers. Most immediately tell you that you have to raise your offer. If they say this you need to find out why they have come to this conclusion.. Your goal is to have the lender order an internal BPO (Brokers Price Opinion) or a full appraisal of the property. Do not settle for just a drive by appraisal. No need to be nasty but be insistent and keep at it until you get the BPO ordered.

Secret 3 – Make sure that you personally meet the BPO agent This is the most important part of being successful with your short sale. You must personally meet with the agent or appraiser doing the BPO (Brokers Price Opinion or Appraisal). You job is to provide the person doing the BPO any information that can influence the BPO in your favor so that their price that will justify your offer. You should speak the BPO agent and let him know that the seller is in dire straights and is depending on the BPO. You should have a list of repairs done by a contractor and most importantly have a good list of comparable sales showing that the property is worth substantially less than what is the owner owes. All these items are important but meeting with the person doing the BPO is the most important of all. Do not let them get in the property without you being there and be sure to be early for the meeting.

Secret 4 – Don’t take No for an answer The job of the loss mitigator is to get the case settled for as much money as he possibly can. Of course you have to realize that there are certain circumstances that will limit the amount that the lender will take. Some of these are PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and the VA guarantees. These loans are insured by private or governmental agencies and as a result are limited in the amount of discount that they will take. If it is a conventional loan the settlement amount is arbitrary and determined by the end lender or the investor holding the loan. If you are dealing with a servicer rather than a direct lender your negotiations have to be approved by the note owner before a price is agreed upon. Your continued persistence will determine your success in getting prices that allow you to create a profitable transaction..

Secret 5 – Be sure you are prepared to close promptly Once you have finalized your negotiations the bank will expect your to close quickly. Usually within 2 to 4 weeks. If you are unable to close within this period you can have a very difficult time negotiating an extension and may encounter difficulty negotiating with this lender or servicer in the future. This problem does not usually arise if you are the end buyer but if you are planning on “flipping’ the property out to another end buyer you need to be sure that they are ready to close when you finalize the negotiations for the property. One way you can stall this is to slow down your final negotiations until you secure your end buyer. Sometimes this can really work to your benefit when the loss mitigator calls you to see what is holding up your final acceptance of an offer. Many times you can get an additional reduction in the price.

Certainly there is much more involved in doing short sales but these 5 steps are critical in getting a successful resolution to a short sale case. Remember that you have to be persistent and polite but do not take no for an answer. Push on and you will succeed

If you are on the lookout for suitable budget priced homes for sale, considering buying a foreclosed home could be the wisest option for you. Compared to other real estate deals home buyers are now opting for foreclosure homes for sale as a more profitable and viable investment option.

What are the advantages of investing in budget priced homes for sale?

Investing in a budget priced home through foreclosures has a wide range of advantages some of which have been listed below:

• Home buyer’s assistance programs – By investing in a property under foreclosure homes for sale, home buyers can avail a wide range of housing schemes under which they can qualify for down payment assistance, low interest loans and tax credit abatements.

• Good neighborhood services – There are a large number of foreclosed homes that are very reasonably priced but are located in prime residential areas with quality neighborhood services.

• Affordable housing options – At present the foreclosure market has been flooded by a wide range of affordably priced homes for sale which include condos, small and large family homes and penthouses.

How to find a suitable budget priced deal through homes for sale?

The following set of instructions will help buyers in locating the best bargain deals on foreclosed homes for sale:

1. Understand your housing needs – In order to find the best bargain deals on homes for sale get a clear idea of your housing requirements like the desired size, location and the price range of the property you would like to purchase.

2. Subscribe to an online listing service – Now search the web for a suitable listing service and specify your various requirements in order to get the latest updates on suitable properties.

3. Compare suitable properties – From the listings that you receive select properties that closely march your requirements and compare their price and features in order to identify the best value deal.

4. Assess the house and its history – Once you have decided a property, ensure that the property is in a good condition and free of back taxes.

5. Bargain with the sellers – Finally get in touch with the sellers and negotiate for a lower asking price along with reduced closing costs and a smaller down payment.

When it comes to finding suitable homes for sale, foreclosed properties offer the best bargain deals in the market. So now that you are equipped with the right instructions for buying a suitable house go ahead and look up a budget priced foreclosed home successfully.

Without a doubt the hottest topic in real estate investing are short sales, buying homes through transactions where lenders accept a sell for less then what they are owed, for homeowners facing a financial hardship, therefore avoiding the costly foreclosure process.

According to top industry leaders, short sale transactions drastically increased in the final quarter of 2007, expected to increase even more in 2008. Lenders have seemed to recognize that they are losing more money through the foreclosure process, then if they successfully negotiate a short sale.

Investors, Realtors and lenders should not assume that a short sale is a quick process, in most cases they take a considerable amount of time to put together. Short sales are negotiated, in most cases, with multiple lenders so there is nothing fast about them. Negotiating a short sale can take a considerable amount of time. In a short sale negotiation, everyone involved wants to be the “winner”, so coming to terms with all parties involved can be an exhausting task.

Complications such as a second or third mortgage lien on the property will create a situation that will take time to workout; these lenders will have to agree to a short sale transaction too, not to mention the introduction of a home equity line against the property. The borrower may be four to six months in default on the first mortgage and the property may be worth then $100,000 or more of the original purchase price, however all lenders with liens against the property will have to agree on the terms of the short sale.

Most lenders in the second or third position will be willing to negotiate a short sale; in fact, it is there best interest, in a foreclosure these lien holders typically are wiped out. In the event of a short sale they may still in a position to get some of there investment back, it may only be 10-30 cents on the dollar, but better then nothing at all.

There is usually a lot that needs to work out in a short sale, excellent negotiation skills are required to get the best possible deal. Many unforeseen complications due show up once the negotiation process is started, you must be ready to deal with these as you are working with lenders on a short sale transaction.

There is an art to negotiate a short sale, but do not let this stop you, give it try. You may be the next lucky investor to pick up the “hottest deal in the market”.

When homeowners fall behind on mortgage payments, foreclosures may occur. A foreclosure is a process in which a financial institution repossesses or sells a piece of property because of a loan default. Mortgage lenders usually consider a mortgage to be in default when payments haven’t been made in three months. When mortgage loans are in default, the mortgage lenders can start the foreclosure proceedings of the properties, and so opportunities arise for investing in foreclosures.

There are three ways you can get a great deal in investing in foreclosures: at the pre-foreclosure stage, that is, before the homeowner falls so behind in his mortgage payments that the property is foreclosed; at an auction of foreclosed properties; or from a Bank owning foreclosed properties. Information is everything! You need to have up to date accurate information, an absolute essential for investing in foreclosures. You will need a source for knowing what properties are going to sale, for how much and when.

Success in buying homes in pre-foreclosure is all about timing and it is essential that you reach the homeowners early on to help them. When a homeowner is unable to pay one or two mortgage payments, you can be pretty sure that a probable foreclosure is ahead. Many of these homeowners don’t know who to turn to. They are mostly scared and/or worried. Wouldn’t anyone be fretful in the same situation? As an investor you have to think about the reality these people are facing and present them options in a hopeful manner, to help them move forward in their lives.

The second way you can find great deals in investing in foreclosures is at auctions. When borrowers default on their mortgage payments, the original lender takes back the property and sells it at auction, often at a seriously discounted price. Your main advantage of investing in foreclosures at an auction is that the moment a property reaches the actual sale date, all trust deeds (loans, depts.) made after the foreclosing loan are wiped off the property. In this way you can get instant equity. If you’re the winning bidder at an auction you will pay off the loan with your winning bid amount and you’ll then take title.

Lastly you can also find great opportunities for investing in foreclosures with properties owned by banks or other lenders. 10-20% of all properties progressing to the trustee’s sales (auctions) have no bidders show up. The instant that no bids are made at the sale, the foreclosing beneficiary (bank or lender) becomes the owner. Banks and lenders are now getting these properties back regularly. It is very expensive for them to be stuck with these properties! The costs to the lender would be enormous in the event that they chose to list the property with a broker and many months elapse during the clean up, the marketing, and the escrow period. The whole key for you to be able to invest in foreclosures at this stage is to act quickly by approaching the beneficiary (lender), the same day of the sale, before he turns the property over to a real estate agent for resale. Your quick action at this point can save you tens of thousands of dollars.

As a general rule, when a property has a lot of equity you should approach the owner during the pre-foreclosure or default stage with an offer. It’s in his interest to accept an offer of a few thousand dollars to get out before losing everything at the foreclosure sale. When a property has little or no equity, you simply step back, be patient and wait for the trustee’s sale at auction. The trustee’s sale will wipe off all previous liens, creating equity. Ten to 20% of the time no outside bidder will show, and the property will revert to the foreclosing beneficiary. Now is your perfect time to low ball the bank or lender with an offer substantially below the minimum bid at the trustee’s sale before he incurs any costs, such as commissions, clean up, repairs and holding costs.

There are three key elements to investing in foreclosures with the lowest possible amount of capital. First you must know which properties are in trouble and know exactly at what stage of the foreclosure process the property is in. Second, it is critical that you know how much time the owner has left. Third, you should always find out all the trust deeds (loans) that are against the property so that you can establish the lowest possible price to offer. You should have some way of getting these three elements researched as completely as possible on every property giving, so that you get all the most important information that any buyer can have. To do this you need a first-class reputable and reliable foreclosure information service, to enable you to successfully profit through investing in foreclosures. You can find a first-class reliable service providing updated details of more than 600,000 foreclosures and pre-foreclosures at : Investing In Foreclosures