How to Find Foreclosure Investment Real Estate Properties

There are a number of sources available when you are looking to find residential investment real estate foreclosure properties. Some of these sources are much better than others. Finding foreclosure properties is much easier than you might think. The trick, however, is two-fold and very important.

1.      Finding resdential investment grade real estate foreclosure properties that are actually for sale.

2.      Finding the best real estate investments before your competition finds them.

You can find foreclosure properties in your local news paper, through an investment real estate agent, on the internet, with direct mail, word of mouth, and lenders just to name a few. Finding foreclosure properties for sale and finding the best foreclosure investment properties before the competition are the two tricks we will be discussing here.  

Investment Real Estate Sources

1.   Newspapers are a great place to start to find foreclosure properties for sale. All states are required by law to post a public notice of auction in a newspaper for all foreclosure properties. You can regularly locate this list in your local real estate classifieds section of your newspaper and contact these homeowners about their foreclosure properties to see if they want to sell, some homeowners may not. The better “flip side” of this is to place a real estate ad in your newspaper stating that you buy foreclosure properties. A well written "We buy foreclosure properties" ad will attract several calls per week from motivated owners that need to sell quickly. These owners have recently discovered that they need to get out, and you will find many of the best real estate investment foreclosure properties come unsolicited through these types of “feeler” ads.

2.   Real Estate Agents find investment real estate foreclosure properties for sale on a daily basis and are waiting for a strong motivated buyer like you who is willing and able to close the deal. Getting a professional and knowledgeable realtor on your side is a strong method that costs you absolutely nothing. Let them know that you buy foreclosure properties, give them the specific criteria about the type of foreclosure properties you are looking for; price, location, condition, etc. and send them searching. You will have results back almost immediately. In a strong market there will be a lot of competition, so make sure you are ready, willing and able to snap up a deal.

3.   The internet is the BEST place to find investment real estate foreclosure properties for sale. Several foreclosure listing companies actually search out notifications of default and sell a subscription to those who are willing to pay for this information. The most advanced foreclosure properties sites will provide three key benefits: Plenty of foreclosure properties for sale, evaluation methods to find the best foreclosure properties based on your requirements, and easy and complete methods for contacting the foreclosure properties owner or agent. Beware that some of these foreclosure properties sites are just a way to make money and provide little or outdated information on these foreclosure properties. Make sure they give you a free trial period so you can see how current the foreclosure listings are.

4.   Direct Mail is one another great way to find the undervalued foreclosure properties. This is because you can talk directly to the owner who is still in the pre-foreclosure stage and negotiate a nice discounted price on the property. There will be fewer investors that even know about the property, however, there is more work involved in the time it takes to find these foreclosure properties.

5.   Word of mouth is a technique that all the good investors use. Let it be known to everyone you come in contact with that you are a real estate investor who specializes in buying foreclosure properties. You should make some business cards as well that say "I buy foreclosure properties" and hand them out to everyone you know. You will be amazed what this will do for you. You may get a call from your friend's sister's friend who needs help avoiding the public auction.

There are so many excellent ways to find foreclosure properties. In fact there are many more than what are listed here. The idea is to work smart, not hard, and to let the tools that are made available work for you. You've always got to be ready and have your system working to find the best foreclosure properties. Start on the web and try a few methods of finding foreclosure properties until you find the best one that works for you.

The Investment Real Estate Source

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