The Successful Landlord Blog

These days real-estate foreclosures seem to be in the forefront of the news assisted somewhat by the sub-prime loan mess, so I figured I’d write a few words about my experiences when looking to buy foreclosed properties or properties that are in pre-foreclosure. There’s even a web site called Foreclosure.com that can greatly assist potential buyers in finding these distressed properties.

While I’m looking for properties to buy, fix and rent, I consider foreclosures as well as MLS listed properties and FSBOs. For most homeowners facing foreclosure, it’s a stressful and sorrowful process.

Case in point, I was sitting at the closing table about to purchase one of the houses that I own now and the closing agent walked in and let everyone know that the closing would be held up for about an hour (thanks for the notice) due to a “wrinkle” in the funding of the sale.

It turns out that the seller, an older woman who had just lost her husband to cancer, ignored the fact that she was one month away from foreclosure. And when I say ignore, I mean not opening the mail and ignoring posted notices on the property. I know this because I found the bunched up notices and unopened mail at the property after the closing.

The closing was held up because the seller’s bank’s attorney was already in possession of the case and he had to be paid out of the closing funds before the title could be transferred. The amount of crying and cursing on the part of the seller and her family that ensued was truly heart wrenching.

One of the resources I used when looking for properties in foreclosure was Foreclosure.com. They have a pretty comprehensive list of properties (in my area anyway.) The actual street address is not shown unless you sign-up for the service but they do have a 7-day free trial which will allow you full access to all information on the site.