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Pre-foreclosures: How Fortunes Are Made
--By Jeffrey Ringold
All rights reserved.
What is pre-foreclosure? Pre-foreclosure is the time period from which the bank gives notice of default, once the homeowner is approximately 90 days late in payments, to the time the house sells at auction. Pre-foreclosure is also the most crucial time in the foreclosure process. It is during this period that you as an investor stand to make the largest profits and can literally make thousands of dollars in months, weeks, days, or even hours!
The key to pre-foreclosure houses is equity. Simply put, equity is the difference between what a house will sell for (fair market value) and what is owed on the house. The whole concept to making money with pre-foreclosures is to buy a house for less than fair market valuing, thus immediately creating equity for yourself.
Here is an example of how this can work. Let's say someone owns a house with a fair market value of $200,000. Now let's assume that this homeowner has lived in the house for several years. If you consider that the property has most likely increased in value over time, while at the same time the homeowner has been paying down the mortgage on a monthly basis, it is fair to assume they owe less than $200,000 on the property.
For this example let's assume that the homeowner owes $160,000. This means there is $40,000 in equity in the house. As an investor, you would want to buy the house for $160,000 or slightly higher. If you can do this, you have a shot at making $40,000.
I know what you are thinking. Why would they sell the house for $40,000 under the market value? Right? Here is one reason why. If they sell the house to you, you can promise them a quick closing, thus stopping the foreclosure (losing the house at auction).
This will prevent a foreclosure from going on the homeowner's credit record. A foreclosure can stay on someone's credit for seven to ten years making it next to impossible to get another mortgage in the future. This is just one of many reasons.
So let's say they sell the house to you for $160,000. You can turn around and put the house back on the market for the $200,000 that it is worth. Once the home sells, you could put a whopping $40,000 in your pocket. Sounds pretty nice, huh? The best thing is there are ways to make similar deals with little or no money! An that is an example of how you can make money with pre-foreclosure houses.
In order to buy pre-foreclosure houses you first need pre-foreclosure leads. This is how you are going to get your leads. You are going to implement a powerful direct marketing campaign soliciting those who are in pre-foreclosure. How do you learn where to start looking?
One of the most valuable sources for pre-foreclosure leads is mortgage brokers. Almost everyone knows a mortgage broker. Maybe your brother is a mortgage broker. Maybe a good friend is a mortgage broker.
If you don't know anyone in the mortgage business, network a little bit. I am confident you will be introduced to someone in the mortgage field that can help you.
If not, that is OK too! You will just have to do a little more legwork. Go through the yellow pages and look for mortgage companies. Start calling around and introducing yourself. See if you can talk to the manager. If not ask to speak to a loan officer.
Ask them if they have someone in particular that handles foreclosure financing. They may or may not. Often times in mortgage companies, they will receive large volumes of calls from distressed homeowners.
These are homeowners who are trying everything to stop foreclosure. Most of the time, it is too late for the mortgage company to help the homeowner because their credit is already shot. At this point the mortgage company may refer them to what is sometimes call a hard money lender. A hard money lender is a lender that specializes in high risk loans. Often times, they are private investors.
This is where you come in. These leads are invaluable. They are homeowners that are exhausting their last options to save their home. What you do is have the mortgage company start to refer these deals to you. If you can get the names and phone numbers of these homeowners, you can contact them directly. More importantly, you can contact them when they are open to listening and expecting your call. If the mortgage representative that can't help them gives a high recommendation of you to the homeowner, they will be excited to hear from you.
About The Author:
Jeffrey Ringold is the author of 'How To Build A Massive Fortune Through Real Estate Foreclosures'. He is a licensed real estate agent and investor who has bought or sold over $12 million in real estate over his 7 year career. He is consulted by leading real estate developers and investors almost daily.
For more information on real estate investing and foreclosures, visit his web site at:
www.MassiveForeclosureProfits.com
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