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So, now that you have made the decision that the place to invest is in foreclosed properties, you have one more thing to do. You have to locate the appropriate foreclosure properties. There are lots of places to start your search for this kind of property, and I have 2 very general classifications: government foreclosures and bank owned real estate.

There are a number of sources you might consult to learn more about government foreclosures. The Department of Veterans Affairs is one starting point, as is the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You might also look into the General Services Administration and see if the Office of Property Disposal has any listings. Other resources include the Treasury, Small Business Administration and Agricultural Departments, law enforcement sources such as the Marshals Service, and banking sources such as Fannie Mae and the FDIC.

With respect to bank foreclosures you will find many banks have their REO listings on their websites and can even find directories of the banks that do online. Otherwise you can find many bank foreclosures via asset management companies. It is their job to help lenders dispose of such assets and many asset managers list the REO properties of the banks they work for on their own website.

It is also very important to look at pre-foreclosure properties as a possible source for your investments. To be able to capitalize on this option you really need to have a decent understanding of the foreclosure process. But at various stages of the process notices are recorded with the County Clerk and these public records may be searched by anyone which gives you the possibility of locating properties that are heading towards foreclosure. You can then approach the owners about acquiring the property prior to foreclosure and help them out of a sticky situation.

A step in any foreclosure is that a Notice of Sale has to be placed in the local paper. Look for trustee sales in the section where public notices are in local publications and magazines. You are at an advantage if you know about the properties before they are at this step in the proceeding. If you make a purchase at a trustee sale, be sure to do your homework, as the properties as sold "as-is, where-is."

It would also be beneficial to become familiar with the website for the county that is your target area to make use of the resources that it offers for searching for foreclosures in the area. This will be useful for you whether you are looking for pre-foreclosure properties, or foreclosure auctions on the steps of the county courthouse.

Using multiple sources of foreclosure properties is encouraged because it allows you to access multiple sources of listings. There are many different sources, and reviewing the inventories of multiple asset managers, banks, the county clerk, and other government departments will give you a larger range of properties to chooses from. And the bigger your selection, the bigger your advantage over other investors.

At some point, you may have made the decision to begin dabbling in foreclosure investing, but you haven't yet started since you don't yet have foreclosure homes. Two key groups of listings include government foreclosures and bank REO properties, and it is useful to think in terms of these two groups, as there are numerous ways to identify foreclosure homes. A good investment possibility is homes that are currently in pre-foreclosure situations. A step in any foreclosure is that a Notice of Sale has to be placed in the local paper. Look for trustee sales in the section where public notices are in local publications and magazines.