The ultimate goal of all your real estate foreclosure investigation is to make a decision whether a given distressed property provides a good bargain-buying opportunity. To the outstanding unpaid loan balance you must add all the liens against the property and any estimated fixing costs and then subtract that total from the market value of the foreclosed house. If the difference is a strong positive number, you can contact the owner already prepared with all your evaluations and start negotiating a possible sale.

You will also have to collect financial information the lender will require and apply for pre-approval. Try to read as much as possible about the lending process and what steps will be needed to complete it. Check your credit and deal with any credit problems that may have arisen before the lender gets your credit report.

Finally, take a short list of properties you are interested in and hand it over to your agent. Many experienced buyers and investors prefer to purchase real estate foreclosures without the help of an agent, but if you have never done this before, it is a really good idea to trust the expertise of an agent who has both knowledge and experience in purchasing distressed property.