foreclosure investing

Have you ever sat in a diner or other restaurant and overheard someone eat an entire meal while talking on the phone? That happened to me and my husband this morning. He was on the phone when we arrived, he was one the phone when his meal arrived, he was on the phone throughout the meal, and he was on the phone when he went into the men’s room afterwards.

We didn’t really want to eavesdrop, but he was pretty loud, and we couldn’t really avoid overhearing him. What was interesting was the topic of conversation, which revolved around bank-owned homes, and foreclosure investing in general. Living in Nevada, which is a real hot spot in the foreclosure market, we have a lot to choose from. Reno’s nowhere near as bad as the Vegas area, but even here in our much smaller town we’ve got something like 2600 homes to choose from.

Foreclosures are on the rise and there are opportunities for savvy investors. But tax and legal changes make this a brand new ball game. Learn the rules PLUS the possible tax credits for foreclosure investors.

California is the land of opportunity, especially for real estate investors. I’ve made my fair share of profit from appreciation in California.

After all, a few years ago all you had to do was be IN the market to make money. There was a strong economic force pushing all the values up. But market values have now stabilized or decreased and the foreclosure rates are climbing. Lawmakers in California are expecting less-than-ethical scam artists to start showing up to take advantage of homeowners who are facing foreclosure. And they’ve come up with some pretty stringent laws to stop them. Before you start on your plans to become a real estate tycoon in California, take a minute to check out the laws.

More than a dozen states have now enacted laws restricting what you can say to homeowners who have homes somewhere in the foreclosure procedure. If you don’t follow the strict requirements, you are looking at large penalties and even jail time.

I’m concerned because I see so many people now promoting foreclosure seminars with “make millions in your spare time” promises. Without a doubt, there is a lot of money waiting to be made in the foreclosure market, but it needs to be done legally or you risk everything you already have. At a minimum, there are five minimum requirements that you should follow if you’re buying foreclosure properties.

Intelligent Investment — or Illegal Activity?