The foreclosure process is handled at the state level.

(3) I get him paid up, and then we have a legal agreement that we "co-own" the house and he has to keep making payments, and if he doesn't, I can buy the house for a pre-determined price if he gets behind again - I read about this somewhere, but it's not clear how this would work to me I'm leaning toward (2), to draw up a legal document saying that he is selling the house to me, and at the same time, pay off the bank for him and get everything level so that the sale can go through and I have time to get conventional financing.

CCIM, so I think that will help as well.I feel that as a beginning point; my first investment will be a 3 family in my comfort level that has been recently updated.Any suggestions?

Don't know what area you live in, or what kind of skills you have, but in most areas Delivery of some sort would be the hours you are looking for, and tips may be good... agian, if you are in Alaska, it may not be a good choice, but it would be in most areas???

Stuff like:Are they an angry landlordAre they current in their billsJob transferDivorceDefaultugly housesYou know.... all of that motivated seller stuff that is listed in every book on real estate investing.Your job is to learn the art of what I call in my book "Verbal Judo" You have to skillfully develope a style that gets you the information that you need while putting the seller at ease.

What skills or prior experience do you bring to the RE investment field?

I have the cash available to purchase property up to 300k obviously I want to spend far less on my first project and would have cash for any work that needs to be done, which I have the skills and tools to do anything needed.

Ever since then, I've spent my time accumulating knowledge, honing my sales and communication skills, and finishing college.My first deal will probably be when I buy my first condo after my lease is up.

The site has a lot of people with different background and different levels of success when it comes to RE investing.

Learning to pass on 'deals' that are more likely to go bad is a skill.