Foreclosures Can be a Great Source of Acquisition for Real Estate Investors

According to a recent report by CoreLogic, approximately 553,000 U.S. homes are in the foreclosure inventory nationally, a number that is down from 761,000 homes since this time last year.

Since the housing crises started in 2008, roughly 5.6 million foreclosures have been completed. About 7.7 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since homeownership rates peaked in second-quarter of 2004.

During the last month (February to March, 2015) foreclosure filings soared nearly 20 percent. Check out these leading 10 states for foreclosure, and see if states you are interested in made the list:

1. Florida: One out of 446 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

2. Illinois: One out of 453 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

3. New Jersey: One out of 508 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

4. Maryland: One out of 535 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

5. Nevada: One out of 586 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

6. Delaware: One out of 832 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

7. South Carolina: One out of 858 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

8. Ohio: One out of 955 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

9. Indiana: One out of 970 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

10. Georgia: One out of 1,085 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

Easily among the soundest approaches that veteran real estate professionals use to increase profits, is to focus their investments on foreclosures. If you elect to study, understand, and apply these strategies, you can see huge profits.

3 Approaches for buying foreclosures

When you start investing in foreclosures, you will be focused on making your deals in the following three areas:

• Buying from a motivated seller who is facing foreclosure. A terrific database for finding vacant properties (often a good sign of a home going into foreclosure) is Find Motivated Sellers Now. A motivated seller is often the key to a killer deal. Also, when you buy from a homeowner who is looking at foreclosure, you become a problem solver for the seller while securing a terrific profit for yourself.

• Buying at auction. Once the lender forecloses on a property, they try to sell it at auction. A seasoned real estate investor can often procure the property at auction for well below market value.

• Buying from the lender. If the lender does not receive any minimum bids at auction, they take possession of the property. These lenders are typically in the finance business, not the real estate business, which means they are usually motivated to sell. This situation is often highly beneficial as it allows you to find terrific values.