Anyone ever buy foreclosed property?

[menace]

I was talking to a guy last night at my Building code class and he mentioned that his buddy was able to pick up a house from a bank foreclosure, do some reno work and flip it back onto the market. 

What I was wondering is how you find out what houses are being foreclosed and how you go about buying them from the bank?  Is this one of those things where you have to have inside information or is it something anyone can take advantage of as long as you know where to look?

[Crazy Cooter]

The information is available to anyone... but the best deals are taken by people that give that information out... before it gets out... get it?

Step one: Call your bank  .

They'll point you in the right direction for free (and without putting you on some nutball mailing list like those 1-800 numbers will).

[abrannan]

Market's lousy for flippers right now.  DOM (days on market) is climbing rapidly in most areas, as are foreclosures.  It's rapidly becoming more and more of a buyers market.  And Coot's right, the good properties/information is already being sat upon by folks who have a lot more ready cash and credit to pick up properties faster, and are willing to accept a lot less profit than you (they've got low interest loans, or flat out cash, are General contractors/developers and don't have that overhead, etc).  They can out-bid you in a heartbeat, and still make more profit off the property than you would.

Of course, you could always get into that world and try to find one of these individuals who's willing to take you in as an apprentice of sorts, giving them an extra pair of hands/brain in exchange for their knowledge and a hefty cut of the proceeds.

[RetroJames]

Yes, but it wasn't foreclosed until after I bought it. You can read all about it in my new book,

"How I Turned a Million in Real Estate into $25.00 Cash."

[Stingray]

Yes, but it wasn't foreclosed until after I bought it. You can read all about it in my new book,

"How I Turned a Million in Real Estate into $25.00 Cash."

-S