I am interested in buying a foreclosure property but am not sure where to start looking. What are the best resources or websites to find information on foreclosed homes? Any tips on navigating the process would be appreciated as well.
Try checking out sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, or even local real estate websites. They usually have a section for foreclosures.
I don’t know much about this, but I do know that you can find this information on government websites. You could, for instance, go to the website of the County Recorder and look for “Deed of Trust” in their papers to find out about the property owner and the lien. I’ve read that you can also find information on realtor.com, but I haven’t checked it out myself. Watch out for sites that charge for lists. You can use the tools on these sites to automatically scrape and put together sets of data that may or may not be what you are looking for.
Regarding #3. Unless you know otherwise, think it’s a complete dump that needs to be fixed up from top to bottom. It may need plumbing, electrical, and structural work. From the street, you can look at the house. Most of the time, you need cash (or a cashier’s cheque) to buy something at an auction.
In some cases, foreclosures don’t sell at auction and are instead put on the market. Most of the time, you can see those. It could be a good way to start if you’re new to the game.