The Real Estate Wholesale Market - How to Research and Qualify Homeowners

In an earlier article, I explained Step 1 to Pre-Foreclosure Success-Organizing Your Office. Today, I'll tell you about Step 2: Researching the Market and Qualifying Homeowners.

In the pre-foreclosure market, there are two keys to your success-finding homeowners who've tried to solve their financial problem and failed to do so and qualifying those homeowners. This puts in you in the position of working with motivated sellers, and that's half the battle! In order to find these motivated sellers, you have to do some hard work and research several sources of information. Essential Sources of Information

Below is a list of my favorite information sources. Keep in mind that you'll be using a combination of these sources at all times. Don't limit yourself to one or two. You want as many open highways to profits as possible.

Courthouse offices-This is the first place to look so you can become familiar with your local and state government agencies handling foreclosures. The name of the agency varies with the state; it could be the county clerk, office of state register, registrar, etc. Find out if you can access foreclosure proceedings online. This is ideal since you'll be able to download the list on to your computer quickly and easily. If the government office doesn't have its records online, ask if there's a foreclosure reporting service you can use.

Keep in mind that, generally speaking, one of two foreclosure actions will be initiated by the lender's attorney and will be available as a matter of public record-a Notice of Lis Pendens (judicial) or Notice of Default (non-judicial). A Notice of Lis Pendens means "a pending lawsuit." It describes the period between a filing of a lawsuit and when the case is heard in court. A Notice of Default is a legal notice filed in the public record to let the public know that the mortgage or deed of trust is in default and is scheduled to be foreclosed on at a specified time.