Many people today are losing their properties to lenders by foreclosure. Foreclosure is the legal definition for the process regarding the transfer of a borrower’s properties to a lender because the borrower wasn’t able to meet the terms of the loan repayment. The property is repossessed by a lender and it is auctioned or sold as a foreclosed property.

This article tries to give some general information regarding real estate foreclosures and other kinds of foreclosures in general. If one is buying foreclosed real property, he might want to spend a few minutes reading this article.

How Properties Are Foreclosed

A foreclosure action is usually initiated when a borrower isn’t able to pay up three mortgage payments. A notice of default will be issued by the lender against the real property. If the borrower is unable to pay up the debt, the lender will have the right to foreclose the property and sell it in a trustee sale.

Problems Regarding Buying Foreclosed Real Property

When we talk about something that is as risky as buying a foreclosed property, we might as well lay down the problems that might arise in this venture. Although one can have a great deal out of purchasing real property that is foreclosed, one must have a keen eye on the details.

A simple rule in buying foreclosed real estate property is- “beware.” There are not much available schemes for buying foreclosed properties in general, therefore, one must be very liquid and this entails a lot of disposable money. An impulsive buyer should be careful in engaging in auctions and sales of foreclosed properties. The title of the real property should be checked meticulously so as to avoid purchasing a deficient title. One of the more serious concerns that should be considered is that the condition of the property is not known well and usually, an inspection of the real property will not be possible before one purchases it.

Types Of Foreclosures

There are two main types of foreclosures out there, the judicial foreclosure and the non-judicial foreclosure of properties. A judicial foreclosure is a process by which a trustee, a mortgagee or a lien holder requests a sale of the property which is supervised by the court to be able to pay the outstanding balance of a debt. The non-judicial foreclosure action is a process wherein an owner of a real property sells under the power of sale in a trust deed which is in default.

How To Find Foreclosed Properties

If one is really interested in getting his hands on foreclosed real property, he should be keen and act fast because of the stiff competition in the market. In almost all states, notices regarding foreclosed properties can be found in the legal notices pages of the local newspapers. One can also spot a foreclosed property by taking a drive because they have notices in them (just like advertisements) saying that they are up for sale.

There are a lot of foreclosed real properties out there, however, people should be careful and smart in proceeding with purchasing these properties. With the proper research and wise actions, one can actually get a great deal out of buying foreclosed real properties.

There are essentially 5 steps to being successful in real estate marketing. Before we go into the 5 steps of real estate marketing, I want to encourage you to become a student of marketing. The moment that you are able to find your own deals – on demand – the more money you will make! It’s a direct correlation.

When I started out in real estate, I didn’t understand how to “really” market for deals. I was depending upon real estate agents, local real estate investing groups, etc. I did a lot of deals, but I realized I wasn’t making the kind of money I knew I could in estate.

Follow these five steps to successful real estate marketing and you’ll be on your way to filling your own funnel full of five-figure deals.

1. Define Your Target Market:
You must be focused! If you run in too many directions, focusing on too many real estate markets, you’ll always be skipping around, never getting ahead. You need to learn overcome objections; you need to know how to handle the different situations that arise. Once you master one market, then you can duplicate your system across market after market. For instance, you may choose to start working with foreclosures or out of state owners. Once you get the real estate marketing system in place for one, add the other. Then, you can simply duplicate it over and over again!

The single most important thing to remember is that you MUST target motivated sellers… PERIOD.

2. Execute your plan:
It has been said that successful real estate investors have three things: specialized knowledge, ability to take action, and consistency. It’s not enough to have the knowledge. You have to act on that knowledge.

Let’s say your real estate marketing strategy involves bandit signs. You need to have a system for distributing signs on a consistent basis, a consistent method for filtering leads, and a bullet-proof follow up system. If you’re going to execute a direct mail campaign, make sure you have a system for sending out the whole series. For instance, our foreclosure direct mail system consists of 6 sequential postcards. It doesn’t do you any good to come off the starting block at 100mph if you don’t have the ability to sustain that pace or the have tools to fulfill the plan. If you only have the resources to send the first postcard, don’t bother wasting your money. Find another real estate marketing strategy.

3. Pre-screen your leads:
Scribbling notes on the back of an envelope while you’re driving is not a system! We actually send our leads to a separate voicemail line or a call center depending on the marketing campaign. Our students and staff have been trained to do this because it takes emotion out of the system. If I’m having a bad day or sitting in traffic, I can’t focus on that call from the motivated seller, so all of the calls are fed through the system. We request that the seller leave certain information on the line or with the operator. We then take that information and do our basic due diligence before we even have our first conversation with the seller to find out if, in fact, he/she is a motivated seller.

4. Make your offer:
By following a specific real estate marketing system, you’ll be prepared to make an initial offer during the first phone call. By asking the right questions and having a pre-screening sheet in front of you, you’ll quickly learn if they are a motivated seller or simply just wasting time! If your real estate marketing system has this component in place, you’ll know what the property is worth, have a ballpark idea of what the repair costs are, and will know if the seller is motivated. Consequently, you will know at what price you should make your first offer.

5. Contract/Exit Strategy:
Once the seller has accepted our verbal offer, or is close thereto, it’s time to put the purchase offer in writing. We include 3 contingencies – or escape clauses – into the contract.
- Inspection
- In the event of buyer’s default, the deposit is the sole remedy
- Subject to property appraisal

Based on this due diligence, we are then able to decide which exit strategy is most appropriate. All of this follows a basic flow chart process. There’s no thinking! It’s like when you call in for technical support on your computer. They ask you a question, and based on your answer… they go to the next step.

Keep in mind that your real estate marketing efforts should be in concert with the types of deals you’re looking to do. For instance, if you want to flip properties, your marketing system might target motivated sellers facing foreclosure. On another note, if you’re looking to build a rental portfolio, then you might consider building a real estate marketing plan to target landlords filing evictions.