Having a foreclosed house is likely one of the biggest fears of homeowners. It can leave people devastated and in financial ruin. 

Unfortunately, there were over 248,000 foreclosed properties in the United States last year. 

On the flip side of things, these can arguably be some of the best properties for a real estate investor to get their hands on. What should you be on the lookout for? What do you have to do to make sure you are buying a decent home?

This is what you need to know about foreclosure investing. 

Know the Auction Schedule 

The first thing you need to do is know when foreclosure auctions typically take place in your area. This can vary depending on where you live. 

However, a good rule of thumb is that your city or town has a set date at a certain time of the month to do this. Do some research on when this is and find out when a property that you are interested in goes up for auction. 

Do Some Market Research 

On top of knowing the auction schedule, you should do some research in advance of showing up to an auction. The reason is that it is likely a bad idea to invest six figures purely on a whim. 

What you need to do is research foreclosed properties in your local area and see if any of them stand out. When you see one that catches your eye, take the next step and go visit the property yourself. 

Something that you should know is that when it comes to foreclosed properties, you are not usually allowed to go inside the property before you have a chance to bid on it. This means that you may be taking on more risk than the average homebuyer. 

So, what can you do here? Try to talk to neighbors to get an idea of the living conditions of the people that used to own the foreclosed home. They may be able to give you some insight into any possible maintenance issues that the house might have. 

If you are feeling more bold, you may be able to talk to the former homeowners themselves. Just be mindful that this is a very difficult time for them because they are about to get evicted from their home. So, be mindful if you decide to go this route. 

Look at Recent Auction Results 

If you are still not having any luck finding a good property for you, you may want to dig deeper and look at past auction results on foreclosed homes. 

Why is this a good idea? Because then you may be able to find houses that have still not been sold yet. 

If you find a house in that state, it likely means that the lender is stuck with the property. Something that you should know with this is that if a lender gets stuck with this property, it costs money for them to keep the lights on in that house to try and sell it. On top of this, they may not even fully know what they are dealing with. 

What you have here is a more eager seller. They will be more likely to give you a discount on the home to get it off of their hands. 

On top of this, you can get a home inspection if you decide to go this route. That is arguably the biggest advantage of asking the lender directly rather than trying to buy a house at an auction. 

Why is this? Because 86% of buyers that hire a home inspector end up having at least one issue with the property. 

If you find an issue after an inspection, that can either allow you to back out of a bad property or get an even bigger discount on the property. 

Making a Cash Offer 

Going off of the above, it may be more beneficial for you to buy the property outside of a foreclosure auction, because then you can go inside the property to see what you are dealing with. However, buying it from the lender is not the only way that you can do this.

Another option that you have is to convince the current homeowners to sell the property before it gets foreclosed on. The reason why they may want to do this is because they would have more control over the selling price of their home. 

On top of this, they can get access to cash immediately if you agree to buy their home as-is. If you go this route, you can do the same as above and hire a home inspector to check the property out.

Then, you can decide that you are not comfortable with the issues the property has, you are comfortable moving forward if there are no issues, or you can use any issues that come up during the inspection to make a lower offer on the home. 

Get into Foreclosure Investing 

These are some of the biggest things that you need to know about foreclosure investing. You have to understand that this investment can be a risk if you stick to trying to buy these properties at auctions. 

However, if you attempt to buy these directly from the lender or the old homeowner, you will have more information on the state of the house to go off of. 

You may think you need a cash offer to do this. If you do not have this cash, you can still get a loan. 

Apply here now to see if you qualify. 

Foreclosure Investing: Should You Flip a Foreclosed Property?

Foreclosure Investing: Should You Flip a Foreclosed Property?

Having a foreclosed house is likely one of the biggest fears of homeowners. It can leave people devastated and in financial ruin. 

Unfortunately, there were over 248,000 foreclosed properties in the United States last year. 

On the flip side of things, these can arguably be some of the best properties for a real estate investor to get their hands on. What should you be on the lookout for? What do you have to do to make sure you are buying a decent home? 

This is what you need to know about foreclosure investing. 

Know the Auction Schedule 

The first thing you need to do is know when foreclosure auctions typically take place in your area. This can vary depending on where you live. 

However, a good rule of thumb is that your city or town has a set date at a certain time of the month to do this. Do some research on when this is and find out when a property that you are interested in goes up for auction. 

Do Some Market Research 

On top of knowing the auction schedule, you should do some research in advance of showing up to an auction. The reason is that it is likely a bad idea to invest six figures purely on a whim. 

What you need to do is research foreclosed properties in your local area and see if any of them stand out. When you see one that catches your eye, take the next step and go visit the property yourself. 

Something that you should know is that when it comes to foreclosed properties, you are not usually allowed to go inside the property before you have a chance to bid on it. This means that you may be taking on more risk than the average homebuyer. 

So, what can you do here? Try to talk to neighbors to get an idea of the living conditions of the people that used to own the foreclosed home. They may be able to give you some insight into any possible maintenance issues that the house might have. 

If you are feeling more bold, you may be able to talk to the former homeowners themselves. Just be mindful that this is a very difficult time for them because they are about to get evicted from their home. So, be mindful if you decide to go this route. 

Look at Recent Auction Results 

If you are still not having any luck finding a good property for you, you may want to dig deeper and look at past auction results on foreclosed homes. 

Why is this a good idea? Because then you may be able to find houses that have still not been sold yet. 

If you find a house in that state, it likely means that the lender is stuck with the property. Something that you should know with this is that if a lender gets stuck with this property, it costs money for them to keep the lights on in that house to try and sell it. On top of this, they may not even fully know what they are dealing with. 

What you have here is a more eager seller. They will be more likely to give you a discount on the home to get it off of their hands. 

On top of this, you can get a home inspection if you decide to go this route. That is arguably the biggest advantage of asking the lender directly rather than trying to buy a house at an auction. 

Why is this? Because 86% of buyers that hire a home inspector end up having at least one issue with the property. 

If you find an issue after an inspection, that can either allow you to back out of a bad property or get an even bigger discount on the property. 

Making a Cash Offer 

Going off of the above, it may be more beneficial for you to buy the property outside of a foreclosure auction, because then you can go inside the property to see what you are dealing with. However, buying it from the lender is not the only way that you can do this.

Another option that you have is to convince the current homeowners to sell the property before it gets foreclosed on. The reason why they may want to do this is because they would have more control over the selling price of their home. 

On top of this, they can get access to cash immediately if you agree to buy their home as-is. If you go this route, you can do the same as above and hire a home inspector to check the property out.

Then, you can decide that you are not comfortable with the issues the property has, you are comfortable moving forward if there are no issues, or you can use any issues that come up during the inspection to make a lower offer on the home. 

Get into Foreclosure Investing 

These are some of the biggest things that you need to know about foreclosure investing. You have to understand that this investment can be a risk if you stick to trying to buy these properties at auctions. 

However, if you attempt to buy these directly from the lender or the old homeowner, you will have more information on the state of the house to go off of. 

You may think you need a cash offer to do this. If you do not have this cash, you can still get a loan. 

Apply here now to see if you qualify.