Using Foreclosure websites such as forclosure.com or realtytrac?

[Igor Kalem]

Hey guys and gals, long time bigger pockets fan and podcast listener, but first time poster.  

Anyways... prices are pretty hot in my local market so I've kind of been behind the scenes in my market for the past year paying things off and saving, figured it was a good time to do so. I'm going to finally be in the position of being a cash buyer around March or so for properties around 140k and under, going to go with a BRRRR type strategy. At that point I want to try my hand at some marketing and begin learning to buy off MLS market homes. Right now I am looking to add all the knowledge I can and add any tool to my belt possible that will help me when I get to that point.

I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with any of the subscription based websites that report properties in distress?  Or if all of that was just pretty useless?  I was just thinking it could save some time using one of these websites that would have the same info as if you did the work yourself constantly checking court filings and looking at multiple sources.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

-Igor