By D.C. Fawcett, Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

When real estate investors evaluate their options for securing deals and making profits, there are several things that may come to mind. Whether its preforeclosure, short sales, or bank owned foreclosures, investing is still based on similar principles, such as seller motivation. After all, real estate foreclosure sellers are naturally going to be more motivated and the motivated seller is the ideal client for most investors.

Where do most people turn when they seek opportunities in real estate foreclosures?  Sure, they take a look at free foreclosure listings that comes from free or fee-based sources. They can then market their services and attract sellers in foreclosure by these means. While free foreclosure listings may lead to productive and profitable deals, they also can be time and cash intensive.

Another option to pursue is the world of bank owned foreclosures. When a property is lost via foreclosure it goes back to the bank and then becomes one of the now thousands of bank owned foreclosures (or REO properties) on the market today. How do you access bank owned foreclosures in your business?

The key is real estate training and also to work with a real estate agent who specializes in bank owned foreclosures. With the abundance of bank owned foreclosures out there, more and more realtors are promoting these opportunities and can provide you with free foreclosure listings to aid in your own pursuit.

Despite the leads you can generate from free foreclosure listings and the opportunities that exist with either preforeclosures or bank owned foreclosures, I think there is also a certain amount of risk for the investor because, without the proper foreclosure training, no amount of free foreclosure listings can properly educate you in the business. Profits can be lost and so too can foreclosure investing opportunities when you lack the proper real estate investing training.
I assure you that there are virtually unlimited deals to be found within the realm of real estate foreclosures. Whether you’re just curious how to make money with foreclosures or really dive in and engage in serious investing (made easier with both a steady source of free foreclosure listings and quality real estate training), there is a place for you in this business and you owe it to yourself to pursue it.

In today’s market, foreclosures as much as part of real estate investing as any other part of the business. Make sure you have a realtor on your team who can provide you with free foreclosure listings (or simply look for free foreclosure listings on your own) because the deals are out there to be had. Commit yourself to real estate training, and I wish you the very best in success in real estate foreclosure investing and in business as a whole.

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One way to buy a property or home is through a foreclosure auction, but there are a few things you need to be careful of before you buy. You can find some incredible bargains if you know what you are doing with a foreclosure auction. This article will address some of the key aspects of making a successful foreclosure auction purchase.

Before you can make a successful purchase you must find a good foreclosure auction. The best places to find a foreclosure auction are on the internet, for more details visit to www.mining-auction-gold.com through a trusted realtor or a sheriff liquidation sale. Once you have located some reliable foreclosure auction sources its time to do some inspecting.

If you are looking to purchase property through a foreclosure auction in your local state you will want to check your states regulations. Once you know the rules for foreclosure auctions you can move on to the next step, investigation.

If you are working with a realtor you should first determine the value of the foreclosure auction property in question. You will want to compare similar properties that have sold in that area in similar size and condition. If you live in an area where winter storms are common and there is a winter storm or for more details visit to www.auction-professional.com heavy rain on Auction day, make it a point to go anyway. Because many bidders are only semi-serious so if the weather is bad, they might just decide to stay at home. If you do the extra step and still go, you can get the good deals. If you do not have access to a trusted realtor then you can do this research on your own. To obtain information on previously sold homes you can check with a local real estate office and ask them for sold property prices with the specifications you want.

The next step before you buy through a foreclosure auction is to determine the rightful ownership of the property for sale. This can be done free of charge at your local court house. You might need to make an appointment before you go in to check. Once you are at the court house you can research liens or other potential financial problems that need to be considered before you complete the foreclosure auction purchase.

After you have gathered all the facts about the foreclosure auction property you can start the process of making a purchase. At this point you will either attend a foreclosure auction and place a bid or submit a sealed bid to the lender. Hopefully these few tips will get you started on the road to a successful purchase.
www.auction-words.com
www.auctions-profits.com

rockey lal jack
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/auction-success-you-must-find-a-good-foreclosure-auction-730744.html

The real estate market has done a complete 180 as prices are crashing left and right.  Many are wondering if now is the time to get out of real estate investment when in actuality there has never been a better time to make an investment than today.

The only time you have to worry about the real estate market being up or down is if you are considering selling in the short-term.  The reason for this is because you obviously want to be able to sell your investment for as much as possible.

If you intend on holding on to the property for some time, then you are going to learn to deal with the constant fluctuations of the market.  You have to realize that the market is going to go up at some point in time, which is when you will want to consider selling the home.

The goal is to buy low and sell high.  As prices continue to crash every day, it is becoming increasingly easy to purchase rather nice homes at incredible rates.  If you are going to get into real estate investing, now is the time because of how low prices are.

All you have to do is look at the foreclosure list and mortgage auctions.  You will see that you have a plethora of options to choose from.  You will be able to pick and choose and buy properties at rock bottom prices. 

To make the most of this opportunity, you want to make sure your rental income equals or exceeds your outgoing.  In addition, this should include mortgage repayments.  There is nothing better than going to sleep knowing the mortgage payments have been taken care of. 

As you make a real estate investment today, you can sit back and watch as the market turns around over time.  It is guaranteed that the market will rise at some point in time.  And when the real estate market begins to rise, you can rest assured that your property’s value is going to increase.

If you are going to get into real estate investing, there has never been a better time to do so than today.  With diligent research and common knowledge about the market, you will be able to profit greatly in the long-run by investing today.  It is all about buying low and selling high and with the way the market is today, you will find incredible deals on legitimate homes. 

Peter Vekselman
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/why-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-make-a-real-estate-investment-688083.html

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Taking responsibility for the role you played. Now do not get me wrong here, I am not saying that your foreclosure is your fault. But what I am saying is that you need to take a look at how your foreclosure procedure developed and be honest with yourself about how your actions contributed to it.

I fully realize that my choice to move out of my home and let it sink into foreclosure was a stupid one. I also realize that there was a cost associated with that. A rather large and expensive one in my case because I decided to move back into the house and save it from foreclosure rather than letting it go. I paid a significant amount of money in fees and made some tough choices. I fully accept responsibility for my choice.

What choices did you make that contributed to your foreclosure? I know this is not an easy one and it can feel downright uncomfortable but if you want to stop your foreclosure procedure, think about this and be honest with yourself.

Being financially responsible. In an instant gratification kind of society like we live in, financial responsibility seems to have taken a back seat. Saving money and developing proper budgets to live on is not something popular or trendy. But if you want to stop your foreclosure procedure, you will need to take financial responsibility for your life. This means developing a budget that you can live with and a budget that is within your means. This also means tracking your money every month so that you know where it is going. The amount of money that you spend on stuff that you really do not need might surprise you.

Taking responsible action with your mortgage company. This means talking to them and trying to workout a solution to your foreclosure with them. Your foreclosure procedure will move forward whether you talk to your mortgage company or not. The responsible choice is the one where you choose to try to work with them. And if they refuse to work with you, the responsible choice is seeking help to deal with your mortgage company.

Jill Borash
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/being-responsible-in-your-foreclosure-procedure-736934.html

In part one of “Abandoned Properties, One of the Best Kept Money-Making Secrets”, we explored the great profit potential in this unique real estate investing niche. Although some of these properties might be the result of a foreclosure or other distressing event, remember that we’re helping the owner with his/her “house headache” when we invest in an abandoned property.

How Do We Find Abandoned Properties?

Here is one of the easiest ways to find abandoned properties. The first thing to understand is that the more affluent the area is, the fewer the abandons you will find. The less affluent the area, usually the more abandons you will find. I encourage you to find an area somewhere in between the two extremes.

If you keep your eyes open, you will find properties that might have the windows broken out, they might be boarded up, you might see the grass and shrubs overgrown, you might see trash, handbills, newspapers and other signs that this property might be a good candidate for a profitable abandoned property.

Keep a pen and a pad of paper with you at all times. I teach my students to take different routes to and from their normal destinations and write down the addresses of any properties that might be abandon property prospects. This might require that you leave home a little earlier than usual, but it is certainly worth it if it brings you just one abandoned property deal.

Using A Little Known Government Program With An Abandoned Property

Several years ago, I was taking my aunt to an appointment with a dialysis center when I came across an abandoned four unit building. This property showed all the classic signs of abandonment: boarded up windows, tall grass, trash and such. I wrote the address down and called my title company as soon as I got a chance. I gave them the address, and they gave me the owner of the property and the mailing address. I wrote an offer and bought the property for $82,000. We fixed the property up using a little known government program called the Rental Rehab Program to maximize our profits.

This program provided a 3 to 5% loan when the prevailing interest rates were 12% The program also allowed any qualifying tenants to drastically reduce the amount of their out of pocket monthly rent by going on the Section 8 Government Subsidy Program after the rehab was complete. The average wait for the Section 8 Program at the time was 6 to 8 years. This was truly a win-win deal for everyone involved. We kept the property for a number of years, putting a positive cash flow in our pockets every month. We eventually sold the property and made a lot of money.

The Best Financing In the World

With the property needing as much work as it did, it would have been almost impossible to get a conventional bank loan to finance it and, at the time I was in no position to pay all cash. So, what is the solution? As I mentioned before, seller financing is the best financing in the world. The seller of the property financed the entire deal for us.

Here is the point: Abandoned properties are one of the best kept money-making secrets in our industry. They are very good candidates for many of the government loans and grants that can super charge your profits. Tap into this area of real estate and watch your profits soar.

Reggie Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/abandoned-properties-one-of-the-best-kept-moneymaking-secrets-part-2-741187.html

Every foreclosure procedure is different because the laws that govern foreclosure in every state are different, because every mortgage company handles foreclosure differently and because every person that goes through foreclosure is different. If you want to handle your foreclosure procedure well, there are a few things that you need to do.

One of the biggest things that helped me handle my foreclosure procedure was getting informed. When I first decided to save my home from foreclosure, I was in a state of panic. I had no idea what to do and no idea where to start. I knew that if I stayed in that frame of mind, I would never save my house from foreclosure. So I decided to start doing some research. The library and the internet are great sources of free education about foreclosure. So is your mortgage company. One of the first things I did was call my mortgage company and tell them that I wanted to save my home from foreclosure. As soon as I did that, they started to work with me and told me what to expect next. Being informed also helped me keep the feelings of panic at bay during my foreclosure procedure. When you know what to expect next, it is a little easier to handle.

Another thing I did that helped me handle my foreclosure procedure was to remain calm. I admit it, no I did not remain calm though the entire process, but I did for a lot of it. And when I was calm, I had a much easier time dealing with the mortgage companies. It also made it easier to deal with the other people who were a part of my foreclosure procedure. It is easy to get angry or depressed during foreclosure. But keeping in control of your emotions is one of the best things you can do. Not only for the people that you deal with but also for yourself. Getting stressed out or depressed will not solve your problem and will only make you feel bad. So do whatever you can to make sure that you do things that make you feel good during your foreclosure procedure.

Jill Borash
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/how-to-handle-your-foreclosure-procedure-705918.html

Visions of a glamorous lifestyle, back yard barbecues and pool parties that were fueled by teaser loan rates, not to mention negative amortization loans, wooed millions of homeowners into a false sense of security in the early years of this millennium.  House prices soared overnight and the dream of having a solid piece of real estate in a safe neighborhood, close to good schools, took on the utmost importance in the minds of millions of would-be homeowners.

The results of years of unchecked desire to become a buyer combined with irresponsible loan management have put American homeowners into a financial panic.  Over 2.2 million foreclosures were filed in 2007 and that was up 75 percent over the previous year.  The year 2008 is certainly sliding into the record books as well.

If these facts threaten to include you this year, STOP!  If you don’t want to join them, then this is the time to make some clear determinations about what you will do.  It could take approximately 30 days for you to gather and present your case to your lender with the expectation that in the end you will have renegotiated your loan to include figures you CAN live with.

          You can request a modification from your lender without having to use an attorney or loan modification company.  You will need to gather all the same documentation that they would request from you to handle your case, so why not save the $2500 - $4500 that would be charged by using an attorney or loan modification company. 

          You may ask if it wouldn’t be better to pay a financial expert to do this for you.  Maybe, but if you had the extra money to do this, you probably already took that route. And, like everything else in life, they cannot guarantee that this will work.   On the other hand, and without investing a lot of money, you can do this yourself and save thousands in the process.  The Loan Modification experts could not proceed without a great deal of input from you, so before you prepare to part with any more of your hard earned cash, consider handling the process yourself.

          Do not wait until the lender is ready to complete the foreclosure on your home, it may be too late to save your home by that point.  You will want to contact your lender as soon as you know that you are running into a problem with your payments. 

          There are many options that the lender may present to you other than a loan modification.  If your financial loss was due to some hardship, an illness, divorce, death of spouse, or some sort of unexpected tax levy, sick child or disability or other hardship, you can talk with your lender about a loan modification or one of the other options explained below.

          FOREBEARANCE - Forebearance happens when you have fallen behind in payments and are moving into the dangerous area of foreclosure.  It is designed to bring your past due payments current over a specified period of time.  As one of the most common options, it encompasses a written agreement that you will make your full payment each month and a partial payment on your delinquent amount.

          An example of this is that if you have missed three payments you will agree to make the full payment and then you will spread the amount of the missed payments over a 6 to 12 month period in order to catch up and be completely current.

          Do you have an FHA/HUD loan?  You may want to consider PARTIAL CLAIM, which is an interest free loan available to owners of that type of loan.   If this is negotiated, the delinquent portion can be tacked on to the end of the original loan and will go into effect after the first loan is paid in full.

          Next, look at SHORT SALES.  Your lender may allow you to sell your home to someone for less than you currently owe.  The main focus in this scenario is to talk with your lender first because he MUST agree to take a payoff that is lower than the current mortgage balance before the sale is final.

Last, but not least, is the LOAN MODIFICATION.  This changes the terms of the loan to include lower payments, longer term loans, interest only, principle reduction or any combination that the lender is willing to work out with you.   

It is very important to present a complete package to your lender when requesting any type of modification from your lender. You need to be prepared to document every hardship you claim with all of the encompassing legal paperwork.

 “The Complete Handbook on Loan Modification” that is presented by LoanModificationDIY deals with helping you get a successful Loan Modification. 

To learn about the different options that the lender may propose to you and how to prepare the best loan modification package, please visit <a href:”www.loanmodificationdiy.com”>LoanModificationDIY.com. </a>

Eli Zaken
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/loan-modification-for-do-it-yourselfers-736604.html

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Were you lured by low mortgage payments into buying a palatial mansion, only to be stuck with a big house and earth shattering mortgage payments? You are not alone. Many well-educated individuals are in the same position.

The subprime mortgage crisis and its foreclosure cousin has affected more than the less than perfect credit borrowers the media has presented. Subprime lenders expanded their market base by offering products exclusively for borrowers with good to perfect credit. These mortgages - option arm, no money down, and 125% home equity - were offered to improve families’ home ownership opportunities. They did. Homeownership peaked at an all time high of 69.2% in 2004 from 64%.

The subprime crisis has become national as it affecting 60% of the American population. People are losing their dream homes and their sanity. They are stressed, attempting to cover mortgage payments that are increasing wildly, they cannot afford. Property values nationally are dropping sharply trapping people into a negative situation. Their American dream of owning a home, a major investment in America, is being crushed. People are stressed, depressed, and frustrated. People are in a financial funk.

Ida Byrd-Hill, President of Uplift, Inc. a 501(c)3 Idea Incubator has published a book, Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk, to help people mentally and emotionally deal with the financial panic they are now feeling due to the mortgage crisis.

Ida Byrd-Hill spent 15 years as a financial advisor and mortgage lender attempting to educate people to view their mortgage as a part of an integrated financial plan and not the plan alone. She believes when property values increased double and triple fold, Americans were baited into the false sense this boom would continue forever. People secured adjustable rate option arm, no money down and 125% home equity mortgages, not realizing greedy mortgage companies would increase their rates astronomically even when interest rates remained low.

Affluent well-educated people have been bamboozled by the trusted financial industry. Affluent well-educated people were baited into low mortgage payments with option arm mortgages. Option arm mortgages is the street term for the negative amortization loan which promised start interest rates as low as 1.25% to 4% compared to 5.25% to 8%. See the difference in the table below.

$500,000 Loan Amount

Rate
1.25% $1666.26 5.25% $2761.02
2.25% $1911.23 6.25% $3078.59
3.25% $2176.03 7.25% $3410.88
4.00% $2387.08 8.00% $3668.82

People trusted mortgage companies when they should not have been trusted. Adjustable rate mortgages once adjusted annually. Along the way, mortgage companies slipped in semiannual interest rate adjustment. Instead of a maximum rate increase of 2% annually, people are realizing a 4% rate increase annually. If your rate began at 3.25% and every year the interest rate is increased 4% a year, in three years, a person will reach the maximum legally allowable interest rate of 13.99 %. For a $500,000 mortgage, the payment in three years would jump to $5920.40 almost triple the original payment of $2176.03. Most people cannot handle an adjustment of that magnitude especially not over 3 years. The interest rate cap was once 9% but the mortgage companies lobbied Congress to increase it to make more money.

Option arm mortgages were designed for the super wealthy, who understood there would be balance of interest left over from paying only 5 percent of the interest due. The super wealthy gambled that their property value would increase faster than this interest balance increase and they would generate a sizable profit from this real estate transaction. The common individual would not be so lucky. Property values nationally have rapidly declined. People can not even refinance themselves out of this situation as their mortgage balance is higher than the worth of their house. Hence, they are stuck with a big house, a declining investment, earth shattering payment and an increasing mortgage balance.

Even when the foreclosures began to mount, mortgage companies could have renegotiated mortgages to adjust the rate annually rather than semiannually. They were not going to cut into their profits to save America.

Before you react irrationally and enter into a business decision that will ruin your life forever. Fight the funk. Read Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk, a book written to ease people out of the financial panic into a thinking, dreaming, and planning mode again. Or, better yet, give yourself a mental break at one of our Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk seminars coming soon to your region. Purchase the book or register for the seminar at http://www.upliftinc.org or http://Amazon.com.

Ida Byrd-Hill
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/stuck-with-mcmansion-580983.html