Buying Houses in the Bankruptcy, Pre-foreclosure, and Foreclosure Stage

[Ryan Rutan]

Hello everyone. My name is Ryan, and I am a longtime follower of BiggerPockets but have never interacted before in the forums. My wife and I are about to finish our first house flip. It has been a longer process than intended, but because of that we should receive a very good profit, netting $100,000. We want to make the most of this capital for our next house flip that we want to complete in six months or less. We have been looking on the HUD.com site and see a lot of houses in our area undergoing bankruptcy, pre-foreclosure, and foreclosure. My question for you guys is what is the best strategy for each of these stages to acquire a good deal for a house flip? I know little about the processes and laws related to each of these stages. Any advice and knowledge would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Eliott Elias]

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Ryan Rutan:

Hello everyone. My name is Ryan, and I am a longtime follower of BiggerPockets but have never interacted before in the forums. My wife and I are about to finish our first house flip. It has been a longer process than intended, but because of that we should receive a very good profit, netting $100,000. We want to make the most of this capital for our next house flip that we want to complete in six months or less. We have been looking on the HUD.com site and see a lot of houses in our area undergoing bankruptcy, pre-foreclosure, and foreclosure. My question for you guys is what is the best strategy for each of these stages to acquire a good deal for a house flip? I know little about the processes and laws related to each of these stages. Any advice and knowledge would be appreciated. Thanks!

I got my start by buying pre-foreclosures.

Pre-foreclosures (notice of default given but no sale date set) and foreclosures (sale date set) and REOs (auction was held and bank was the only bidder), are all a little tricky.

You have to know the state laws and federal laws regarding the foreclosure process. You don't get to see inside the house you are buying unless the owner lets you in. Most foreclosures have deferred maintenance. Some have other liens as well.
There are time periods in the cycle of a pre-foreclosure that are most effective for reaching the homeowner and getting a positive response.
There are half a dozen ways homeowners can delay or stop a pre-foreclosure.

It's capital intensive.

I cover all of that when I teach buying pre-foreclosures. I guess this would be a good time to learn it, so that you are ahead of the curve and ahead of everybody else when pre-foreclosures start picking up. But right now, pre-foreclosures, even though there are a lot of them, are nothing like we've seen in the past or that we will see in the future.
Something like Foreclosure.com is dated information. There are ways to get current information that are better.

It is not capital intensive if you know how to structure it. I have done many foreclosure deals with as little as $5000 out of my pocket (including closing costs). Look into subject to.