Читать книгу Foreclosure Investing For Dummies - Ralph R. Roberts - Страница 18

The first step in foreclosure investing — finding potentially profitable properties — is often the most difficult for first-time investors. Plenty of foreclosures and seized properties are available, but where do you look for them? The answer to that question varies depending on which part of the foreclosure process you choose to focus on, but here’s a list of where you can find leads on foreclosure properties:

 The neighborhood grapevine, including neighbors, churches, cafes, clubs, and even people who contact you directly for assistance when they know that you buy distressed properties

 Auctioneers

 County offices, especially the sheriff’s office

 Drive-bys (driving through neighborhoods looking for dontwanners — homes that are unkempt, indicating that the owners don’t want them)

 Foreclosure notices in local papers or legal publications

 Bankruptcy notices in local papers or legal publications

 Divorce filings and decrees in publicly accessible court documents

 Foreclosure listing services (websites that list foreclosure and government-seized properties)

 Government-owned listings (see a list of links to the top government sites at www.hud.gov/topics/homes_for_sale)

 Real estate agents

 Attorneys, particularly bankruptcy, divorce, and probate attorneys

 Banks and other lenders

Online foreclosure information services range from excellent to total rip-off. Some services deliver timely information; others deliver out-of-date information that’s totally useless. In the beginning, dig up leads the old-fashioned way: through networking and research.

Word-of-mouth leads are often the best leads. Make sure that everyone you know and meet knows that you purchase distressed properties and work with people who are facing foreclosure. Some investors have so many distressed homeowners contacting them for assistance in foreclosure that they don’t even need to look for properties. See Chapter 6 for networking tips.