Finance Articles

At some point, you may have made the decision to begin dabbling in foreclosure investing, but you haven't yet started since you don't yet have foreclosure properties. Two key groups of listings include government foreclosures and bank owned property, and it is useful to think in terms of these two groups as there are numerous ways to identify foreclosure properties.

There are many different sources when thinking about government foreclosures. A few of the available sources of information include: va foreclosures within the Department of Veterans Affairs, hud foreclosures from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Treasury, the Small Business Administration, the Marshals Services, the USDA (Department of Agriculture), the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and Fannie Mae.

With respect to reo properties you will find many banks have their REO listings on their websites and can even find directories of the banks that do online. Otherwise you can find many REO properties via asset management companies. It is their job to help lenders dispose of such assets and many asset managers list the REO properties of the banks they work for on their own website.

It is also very important to look at pre-foreclosure properties as a possible source for your investments. To be able to capitalize on this option you really need to have a decent understanding of the foreclosure process. But at various stages of the process notices are recorded with the County Clerk and these public records may be searched by anyone which gives you the possibility of locating properties that are heading towards foreclosure. You can then approach the owners about acquiring the property prior to foreclosure and help them out of a sticky situation.

When a bank or mortgage company forecloses on a property, they have to make the process public by printing a Notice of Sale in the town paper. By hunting through the relevant sections of your local paper, you can find these notices pretty easily. Make sure that you know exactly what you're looking at with any property that you buy at a trustee sale, though. These properties are often marketed just as they are, and may need extensive repairs or remodeling.

It could be well worth your while familiarizing yourself with the county website for your target market to see what resources they offer online for researching foreclosures in that market. This could be useful whether you are interested in acquiring properties via pre-foreclosure or at foreclosure auctions on the county courthouse steps.

Using multiple sources of foreclosure properties is encouraged because it allows you to access multiple sources of listings. There are many different sources, and reviewing the inventories of multiple asset managers, banks, the county clerk, and other government departments will give you a larger range of properties to chooses from. And the bigger your selection, the bigger your advantage over other investors.

At some point, you may have made the decision to begin foreclosure investing, but you haven't yet started since you don't yet have foreclosure properties. Two key groups of listings include government foreclosures and bank owned real estate. It is useful to think in terms of two groups as there are numerous ways to identify properties. Explore several sources as opposed to one database. If you expand to include the listings of a few banks, asset managers and government agencies and the county clerk you will have a more varied range of listings to chose from. And this will give you an edge over others.