Posted on February 27, 2010 by Carole Somer

Another professional you will need on your team, is a mortgage lender.

Unless you are paying cash for the property, you cannot purchase the home without a mortgage. Find a lender that has a good reputation and that upon meeting, you feel you can trust and work with. When purchasing bank-owned homes and foreclosures, you will run into certain financing restrictions. For instance, if you were approved for an FHA loan, the home will need to meet certain requirements. A fixer-upper (which undoubtedly many bank-owned and foreclosures are) will not qualify for certain loans. However, there are loans tailored to financing fixer-uppers and foreclosures. Make sure your lender is aware of what you are doing and the type of property you are looking at.

Lastly, I recommend a team of contractors or home inspectors to help you once you find a foreclosure or bank-owned home that you like and want to purchase. Bank owned homes and foreclosures have no disclosures that come with them. This means that you are buying it as-is at your own risk. There is no homeowner to tell you that the home floods every spring or that there was severe termite damage last year. Having the home thoroughly inspected can save you tons of money and heartache in the end.

All in all, there are many opportunities out there in the way of foreclosure and bank-owned homes. As long as you are aware of the process and have done your homework, you stand to make a great investment.