Of course, it may seem counterintuitive, but you want to go where the market is bad – precisely the places where you see the negative signs that point to an economic stalemate, not recovery.

Top right: Bank Owned Home for Sale by www.washingtontimes.com Bottom right: Home for Sale New Price by Elaine Thompson / AP Photo www.kplu.org

For investors, judging by this logic, one of the best places to turn for great foreclosure deals is out West, where the economic recovery appears to be taking hold far less quickly than it is elsewhere. For example, on the list of the top 10 states that have the highest foreclosure rates in the country, states in the West filled six of the spots – and all five spots of the top five. These states are Nevada, Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado – a disturbing sign but a promising opportunity for investors.

Home prices are also down significantly in that part of the country, particularly with the top five states. And a ‘stress rating’ – a combination of unemployment, foreclosures, and bankruptcies – pegs Nevada, California, and Arizona as being in the top five. Why the commonalities? What trend is driving the drop in home prices and rise in foreclosures – two red flags for investors looking for possible bargains?

The falling economy has a lot to do with it, but another theme is that all of these states experienced a sizable increase in population over the past 10 years – above the national average. As with Florida, a rapid increase in population is an indicator that many homes there are at risk, especially since many of these homes were purchased in the 2005-2008 timeframe. As we’ve covered before, homes in that window were much more likely to fall victim to foreclosure and being underwater than others.

Nevada, Arizona, and California fit the bill perfectly. Home prices skyrocketed during the last decade, only to come crashing down. But, all three states are still prime locales – people still want to live there. This means that when the economy recovers, all three should see a sizable resurgence in home prices. (This also applies to the commercial real estate market and commercial foreclosures. Nevada’s commercial real estate market is the worst in the country.)

Of course, for investors, that is a golden opportunity – another gold rush, this time for the 21^st century.

Investors looking to make a tidy profit wouldn’t hurt themselves by first looking to the West and searching for optimal foreclosure deals in prime locations. There are plenty; foreclosure filings went down there only due to procedural matters and should spike again within the year.

If you have the capital to spend, going west isn’t the worst thing you could do. In fact, it could very well be the best.

Go West — If You Want Cheap Homes is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

As of the end of last year, prices of regular dwellings, bank foreclosures, VA foreclosures and all types of residential properties declined by 31% from peak rates recorded during the middle of the past decade. However, majority of those who need to buy a home are still unable to purchase one. According to analysts, the primary problem lies in unemployment, reduced or low wages and tight lending standards.

They explained that people cannot buy a cheap distressed property for sale even if they wanted to when they do not have a job. In addition, most would-be buyers are unable to secure financing, while others are turned off by the considerable amount of down payments being required by most banks. Analysts stated that, with the amount of down payment being required, even affordable homes remain out of reach for most.

Despite the huge amount of low-priced foreclosed homes on offer, houses remain a luxury for most as shown by the type of buyers who have entered the market in the past few months. Since last year's summer season, over two-thirds of home purchases were closed by cash investors, with only 6% being accounted for by first time house buyers. This, analysts asserted, showed that those who really need homes cannot afford houses even at their current price.

This is not surprising, analysts claimed, since nationwide unemployment is still hovering near the 9% mark. In the coming months, analysts expect homes to be even less affordable as interest rates are projected to increase. This will lead to more people unable to afford the full expenses involved in purchasing a home, even if they go for properties sold at auctions of foreclosure houses. They further added that higher rates will increase monthly home financing expenses, lowering the amount that buyers can reserve for principal payments.

They also stated that prices of non-foreclosed and foreclosed homes will continue to drop in the coming months, something that will not be good for the overall housing industry. Even so, most analysts believe that prices of houses would have to go down even further for people to afford them at current wage and employment levels.

Cheap Foreclosed Homes Are Not Always Affordable is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

Prices of single family homes all over the country recorded their lowest quarterly rates during the October-December 2010 period, declining to a level similar to that of more than seven years ago. With prices this low, most will likely think that the housing industry has hit bottom. However, housing experts have stated that this is not the case and prices are likely to tumble further this year.

With foreclosures and properties under bank owned home lists accounting for a large percentage of for-sale properties last year, the fourth quarter posted a 2.6% price decline. This brought the median price of dwellings to $175,200, almost similar to rates recorded in the country during years immediately preceding the foreclosure crisis.

Nationwide home sales data showed that areas like Detroit have properties priced like free foreclosed homes for sale, with the city posting the lowest median selling rate during the quarter at a little over $73,000. The median rate represents a 7.5% decline for Detroit compared with the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the highest median price was posted in San Francisco during the fourth quarter, with houses in the area selling for a median price of $485,700.

According to housing market experts, the huge decline in housing unit prices during the 2010 fourth quarter was largely due to the huge amount of cheap distressed properties for sale flooding the market and the drawn-out impact of the tax credit expiration. With prices this low, analysts are declaring the current housing industry as a buyer's market. They stated that the trend is likely to continue for another year at least.

Although there are no such things as free foreclosed homes for sale or free anything nowadays, analysts stated that the current market is definitely favoring buyers. They reported that values of dwellings have gone down by almost 30% nationwide since peaking in 2006 and buyers will not get a better opportunity to purchase than right now.

Housing Prices Almost Like Offering Free Foreclosed Homes for Sale is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

The city has formed a nonprofit agency called AURA – which stands for Alexandria Urban Renewal Association – to work with the city Office of Community Development to rejuvenate neighborhoods and to help lower-income families own homes.

The Alexandria affordable housing program under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program is among the most unique NSP programs because aside from forming a nonprofit, the program also uses the bulk of its funding for building affordable apartments and single-family homes, in contrast to other NSP-funded programs that focus on purchasing foreclosed properties, fixing them and reselling them.

According to Brenda Ray, community development manager for the city, Alexandria has received a total of $3.9 million in NSP funds. The city has planned to spend $1.25 million for converting the Dominique-Miller barn into 56 apartments, $1.65 for building 33 affordable houses, and $1 million for acquiring distressed properties for its land bank program.

Under the land bank program, the city will acquire abandoned foreclosed properties – those that have been vacant for a long time and have been causing blight in communities – and convert them into functional but cheap homes for sale to families that could not afford to buy homes without government assistance.

Of the 33 houses to be built in Alexandria, 30 units will be built by Lafayette-based B.R. Collins Construction and three units will be built by Habitat for Humanity. The houses will be offered to prospective buyers earning certain percentages of the median household income in Alexandria. A four-member family earning less than $57,750 can qualify under the program. Families earning far below the median income can qualify for the Habitat homes.

City officer Ray said that each buyer can receive up to $45,000 in financial assistance from the NSP funds. She added that without the federal funding, the city would not be able to jumpstart the program, but city officials hope to continue the project even after the exhaustion of federal funds.

Council officials Myron Lawson and Jonathan Goins said they are supporting the program because it is one effective way to improve property values and to enhance life for residents throughout the city.

In addition to providing cheap homes for sale to lower-income families, Lawson also reiterated the need for the city to make families safe and secure by lowering the crime rate in the city.

Cheap Homes for Sale to Lower Income Families in Louisiana is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

Compounding the problem is also the dramatic increase in the number of bankruptcy filings. According to industry experts, the languishing economy and high unemployment rate are taking its toll on Utah residents, with many of them struggling financially.

According to data released by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Utah reported almost 10,706 petitions for bankruptcy from January to September this year. The figures represented a staggering increase of 62 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

The only consolation that Utah has is it is not the only state that is suffering from a high number of cheap foreclosure homes and bankruptcies. Nationwide, bankruptcy filings rose above the 1 million level from January to September this year.

The American Bankruptcy Institute noted that this year’s bankruptcy numbers have reached six figures, the first time since the reform of the bankruptcy laws in the country in October 2005. Industry experts said that bankruptcy filings will continue to rise on a nationwide scale as consumers try to protect themselves from the consequences of increasing housing debts and unemployment rates.

They also said that many state residents are now seeking help to save their houses from foreclosures. They advise troubled borrowers to seek counseling if they are considering filing for a bankruptcy.

Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, those who are planning to file a bankruptcy should undergo credit counseling before filing. And before a bankruptcy case can be dismissed, the distressed borrower should also take and complete a financial-management course.

Many agencies in Utah are providing free counseling to people who are trying to save their homes from foreclosures and who have become unemployed. However, many of those who seek counseling are already at the end of the rope, meaning that they were already overextended even before they have lost their jobs.

Meanwhile, industry experts also noted a significant rise in the number of Utahns who are facing debt obligations in relation to their businesses.

But still, personal bankruptcies dominated the filings in Utah, making industry experts anticipate more cheap foreclosure homes in the future.

Bankruptcies, Cheap Foreclosure Homes Soar in Utah is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

Short sale is trying to convince the lender to take only less of what is originally owed by the seller. You just have to make your lender feel that the short sale will all be worth it and it is better than getting into a foreclosure process.

To make your short sale work, it is important to get a good listing agent–someone who knows how to price the home correctly and has strong negotiating skills.

However, one of the problems you could encounter here is that many lenders are not actually equipped with efficient and effective handling of short sales, and therefore just get the process prolonged. The limited communication the banks allow between the lenders and you or the listing agent is another constraint. Following-up is hard since the listing agent gets to talk with a new or other person whenever he/she calls the bank. This makes potential buyers frustrated and makes them leave the transaction.

Closing a short sale is quite a hard task to do. But it is something doable if you do not want foreclosure. Here are some tips that could help you:

1. Make sure your files are complete.
2. Make a realistic offer.
3. Prepare the area’s computations and statistics that would justify your offer.
4. Be patient with the entire process, though it may take a bit longer. It may actually take several weeks or even months before the banks declare their approval. Yes this is quite frustrating, but banks do not have enough resources to get everything done quickly; but is better than seeing your home in foreclosure. Do not worry for it will definitely pay off in the end.

Get that short sale done and say goodbye to foreclosure.

Tips to Get That Short Sale Done is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

Once you have decided that these homes will fit your preferences, budget and lifestyle, the next thing you must do is to find one of these cheap houses. Here are some places where you might find them.

Classified Ads – most sellers utilize the classifieds ads for the primary reason that they are widely-read. If you are looking for cheap houses, it would not be bad to look at these ads. The only limitation is that they might not provide you with a larger selection of homes for sale.

Local Listings – for serious home hunting, you should check out local listings from realtors’ offices. These listings will usually include repossessed properties, bank foreclosures and government foreclosures.

Auctions – if you are interested in a distressed property, one of the ways you can own one is by joining an auction. But before you do, you must make sure that you brush up on the local auction rules so that you will be well-prepared.

Looking for cheap homes is actually very challenging. You will have to make an extra effort to check each lead for potential bargain homes. With a little patience, you will be able to find one of these cheap houses. Your dream of owning a home will now become a reality.

Where to Look for Cheap Houses is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

But if cheap homes are so plentiful, and you have all the time in the world, why buy just anything that comes along? Many investors these days are curious to find out what exactly the best way to buy cheap homes really is. Which cheap homes will offer not only good savings now, but also the potential for better investment value further down the road?

One of the many places people have turned to find the answer to this question is the foreclosure market. New reports indicate that foreclosures are at soaring rates, and this is in large part due to the slumping housing market. Finding themselves in situations where mortgage payments are simply too much to keep up with, homeowners are faced with defaults and the subsequent foreclosure proceedings that occur due to foreclosure laws allowing lenders to repossess and sell properties as ways of collecting mortgage debt.

These sales are where many investors and homebuyers are finding all kinds of opportunities for buying cheap homes. Since lenders must sell these properties according to foreclosure laws in order to collect the remaining loan debt and avoid a huge loss, they will often allow properties to be undersold provided they are able to earn a significant portion of the loan amount back.

But nowadays things are different. From December of 2006 to December of 2007, the national foreclosure rate nearly doubled, which means more foreclosure properties and cheap homes on the market. This is turn has made it extremely easy for buyers, since the flooded market has led to even bigger discounts on these already cheap homes.

Buying foreclosures is quickly becoming the best method of purchasing cheap homes that offer huge potential for value as investments. However, it’s important to understand which of these cheap homes will actually pay off the most in the long run.

The first thing to consider when looking at buying cheap homes available through foreclosure proceedings and foreclosure laws is to note where foreclosure rates, and thus foreclosure inventory, are highest. States like California, Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan, Texas and Colorado experienced some of the highest amounts of foreclosure activity in 2007, and investors have been finding incredible deals on cheap homes there. But don’t just go for the lowest price. Be sure to consider the potential of the home you are buying for greater value in the future. To do this, consider the area it is in. If you’re buying Texas foreclosure homes, cheap homes in Dallas, a growing city, are probably going to have more value than cheap homes in a rural area, simply because the chance for appreciation is greater.

Look for areas with good economies, school systems and job markets, as these are the areas with the most potential for growth, and where a cheap homes purchase has the most chance to pay off.

And keep your eye on the national scene. Foreclosure laws have led to a drastic rise in foreclosures nationally, but keep your eyes on local markets to see where cheap homes might be most plentiful.

Cheap Homes through Foreclosure Laws: The Best Way to Buy is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.