Foreclosure Flipper

http://foreclosurefetcher.com/foreclosure-info/Getting+Started+in+Real+Estate+Investing

I found a pretty good introductory article for the beginner flipper on this Foreclosure Fetcher site.  As I said in my last post, I signed up for this pre-foreclosure / foreclosure finding service, and I’m finding it to be very helpful in my efforts to increase my number of real estate leads.  There is also a bunch of helpful info provided for each property like important contact info, facts about the underdeveloped land, trends in the neighborhood, a map of the area, and value estimates.   

After a few experiences similar to the below debacle I decided that the  Foreclosure flipping business is simply one where you will encounter all sorts of sketchy behavior/houses.  In order to combat these unavoidable situations and actually make some money, you really have to play the numbers game.  The more foreclosure leads you pursue, the better percentage of them will end of being legitimate pieces of property that are actually worth your time and effort.  In order to bulk up your number significantly I’ve found that using property finding services on the internet is essential.  This realization put me on a war path to find the best foreclosure finding services.  One that I found has been extremely helpful not only in providing an updated list of foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, but also providing several real estate tools that you  can use for free.  Check out http://www.foreclosurefetcher.com. I think its worth the money especially if you are committed to increasing your foreclosure leads and really excelling at the flipping game.

So my day trip to Stone Mountain following up on a pre-foreclosure lead that my friend told me about turned out to be quite the learning experience.  Not so much profitable in the money sense, but certainly lucrative in a house flipping career lesson sense.  So I’m supposed to meet this guy at 10am on Saturday morning.  He doesn’t show up until 11am.  I’m a little pissed off at this point, but the house look beautiful so I’m too excited to get a look at the inside that I don’t make a big deal about it.  We talk for about 20 minutes and he’s going on about how he loves the house so much, but his small business just went bankrupt…yada yada yada.  After 20 minutes I’m like, ok pal I got some other houses to look at can you show me around.  And he’s acting kind of weird so I start to get a little suspicious, but he finally opens the front door. 

And that’s when things got ugly.  The second he opens the door I can smell this strange odor, and I take one look to realize that the inside is an absolute dump.  And I mean beyond salvagable disgusting, at least for my purposes.  I’m really not looking to completely  gut a house, which is definitely what I would’ve had to do. 

Needless to say I didn’t even finish the tour, and the guy new it was bad.  I don’t know what he was trying to pull, because the outside really looked great.  Anyways, lesson learned.  Don’t judge a foreclosed home by its cover.  ‘Nuff said! 

I’m planning to go check out a home that is about to be foreclosed in Stone Moutain Georgia this weekend.  I got the lead from a close friend, so hopefully I can get a good deal on this one and make some money.  It’s a ranch style house, three bedroom, 2 1/2 bath.  From the pictures it look pretty nice, but I’ve been fooled before. 

As far as maintaining a steady flow of finding foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, I’ve been having some trouble lately.  Even though I know they are there, its sometimes difficult to stay organized and be cost/time efficient in my searches.  Looking on the internet I’ve found a few services that provide databases of foreclosed homes nation wide.  Has anyone had a personal experiences with any of these?  I would be very interested to hear if they are worth while.