1. Finding a Foreclosed Home to Buy
This might seem like a no-brainer at first glance. Of course, you have to start the process by finding a home. Easy enough, right? Not so fast. Finding foreclosure homes is not as easy as finding regular homes for sale, because they are typically not advertised in the same ways. On top of that, the foreclosure market can move pretty fast, especially in areas with an active buyer’s market. The reason, of course, is that these homes typically sell for less than market value. So there’s a lot of competition for them in most cities, which means you have to stay on top of the market.
All foreclosure activity is reported through county channels (the county clerk’s office, courthouse, etc.). But making daily or weekly trips to your county building is impractical, not to mention a waste of time. So if you want to do this process the right way, you need to sign up for a foreclosure tracking service.
It’s also a good idea to decide what status of foreclosure you want to target. This is important, because the process for buying these homes will also vary by the status of the foreclosure process. For example, buying a pre-foreclosure home is much different than buying the same home at an auction, after it has been foreclosed upon. When you use a foreclosure listing service like the one I’ve recommended, you’ll be able to filter your search results by status. This is a huge help during the process of buying foreclosed homes — trust me on this one!
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