Investing in real estate is broad term that can mean a number of things. You can purchase property, clean it up and rent it out. You can purchase foreclosures and rent or sell them. An investor can purchase homes that are selling for under market value and sell or rent them after rehabbing these homes. Another method for making money with real estate is to buy pre-foreclosures. Pre-foreclosures can be a great way for a real estate investor to make money and at the same time it can also be an ideal solution for a home owner that is in financial trouble.
Pre-foreclosure is when the foreclosure process has started, but the foreclosure proceeding has not taken place. During this time, if all payments are made, the bank will normally allow things to go back to normal. This is where an investor can help. In many cases, the home owner is not able to produce the necessary money to make the back payments.
The best way to do this is to make the home owner an offer that includes making all his back payments and bringing his account current. This will prevent foreclosure, but in return he will be signing his home over to you. Sometimes investors will help the homeowner with renting an apartment, but the big benefit to the homeowner is not having a foreclosure listed on his credit record. This will give him the ability to be able to purchase a home in the future when his finances are in better condition. The homeowner will no longer have the stress of dealing with a mortgage payment he cannot afford.
For the investor, the benefit is taking over the payments of a home that has a value of more than what he is paying for it. The investor also has the advantage of dealing directly with the owner, eliminating any third-parties. Investing in pre-foreclosures can be a win-win situation for both parties.
If you are interested in investing in pre-foreclosure, all you have to do is find them and that is relatively easy. Any of the normal methods of locating real estate will work. Your local newspaper will have listings of people that have been served with foreclosure paper. The internet also has many sites that deal in nothing but pre-foreclosures and foreclosures. Some of these sites are by subscription only. Your local realtors can sometime give your pre-foreclosure information, because many times the home owner will try to sell their house when they realize they are having financial problems.
