In these tough economic times there are all sorts of opportunities for people who are willing to look for them and take advantage of them. One of the most exciting opportunities around is finding properties that have been foreclosed on and buying them. While it may be a while before you can turn around your investment, purchasing a property today at a lower price will almost always mean selling it at a another time for a higher price. But, where do you find these foreclosures?
You can start looking for foreclosures through a number of internet . You can do searches based on county, city, zip code or even a narrower search.
You need to decide what kind of foreclosure status you are looking for. You want to decide whether you are looking for properties in a pre-foreclosure state that have default notices or a pending lease sale. You might want to search for properties that have already gone to auction or are getting ready to go to auction or trustee sales or sheriff sales. Or you might decide that you want to look for bank owned or government owned repossessions.
Use a property search website to find the kind of property that you are looking, based on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the location you are looking for. The features of these websites vary, but with a little bit of effort you should be able to find one that has reliable information for your area.
Next, you need to get financing. Getting financing gives you a rough idea of what you’re going to be able to afford to pay for a foreclosed property. Getting financing also puts you a better position to move more quickly once the property is available. It also lets you show a potential seller that you are a serious buyer and that you are ready to buy right away.
After you’ve got your financing set up you need to contact an agent. If you’ve never bought a home before you should contact a local real estate agent who can help you get through the process of buying a foreclosure. Make certain your agent knows what priorities you have in terms of size of the house, amenities, and location. A good agent is one of the most comforting and helpful resources available to you.
Contact the owner. Depending on the status of the property the current owner could be a trustee, a bank, the government or the original owner who is a pre-foreclosure state. Knowing how to contact each of these types of owners is an important part of buying a foreclosed propertye