How To Understand Pre-Foreclosure Listings

Understanding pre-foreclosure listings is important, especially if you are trying to capitalize on a declining home sale market and what to purchase an outstanding property at a lower than market value price. Pre-foreclosure listings, also known as short sale listings, are available for free on many different sites on the internet as well as through private access sites. Keep in mind that all homes on pre foreclosure listings are not for sale, some owners will be able to negotiate with lenders, refinance, or may borrow against other collateral to make up their default payments, bringing the property out of foreclosure.

Pre-foreclosure listings are also known as short sales, since the buyer is selling his or her property "short" of the total cost of the mortgage. For example, a home owner with a $200,000 home that is in pre-foreclosure may owe $180,000 on the mortgage, but may be willing to sell the home for $160,000 to avoid having a foreclosure on their credit record. This means that the buyer will purchase a $200,000 home for $160, 000 or less, which is well worth the effort to find pre-foreclosure listings and contact the owners.

Depending on the type of pre-foreclosure listings that are provided by your agent or the website you select, you may be provided with more or less information. The free websites tend to offer the very basic information while the pay per use or subscription type websites can be highly detailed in the information they provide. This information may provide information such as:

• Market value and equity information on the property
• Comparable sales in the area both in foreclosures, pre foreclosures and traditional home sales
• Property reports
• Tax information on the property
• Arial maps of the area as well as pictures of the property
• Phone numbers and contact information for the home seller

Since there are more and more people that are investing in property using the pre foreclosure listings and services, the most up to date and current listings tend to provide the best returns for investors. When deciding if you want to subscribe to a particular pre-foreclosure listing service, check to see if they offer a free trial offer that you can become familiar with navigating around the site and locating information in a simple fashion. Many sites are set up to email you the information or to send daily listings that meet your search criteria directly to your email or to your cell phone through a text message.