And, a special thank you to @Joshua Dorkin, @Brandon Turner, and @David Greene for hosting the BP Real Estate Podcast that brought me to the BP Community!

Being that I'm new I'm having difficulty finding an agent that specializes in REO's, Foreclosures, Shortsales and wedge deals in general.

I figure that it is prudent to stay in touch BEFORE things go plop - like applying for unemployment benefits immediately and cutting back to basic cable.

A HELOC is essentially as good as cash.And while you could use your HELOC as the 20% and get a loan for 80%, the only issue would be typically for any type of investor special properties you need to come in with cash. 

I my search, I have found that these lenders do investment property HELOCs.TrustcoUS BankTD BankPenFedUnion Bank, specializes in noo HELOCArvest BankGot the information for you.

Am also working with an agent that specializes in short sales in case an opportunity there becomes available. 

In sure they’ll get a bail out specially that some of them were just barely making some money and expanding routes internationally.

I've spent many years specializing in investment properties so that when the market turns like this, I'll still have a strong client base, so I think we'll be fine through this mess.

Anyway, I already decided I will go to the local fair housing office or an attorney specializing in this.That does not mean informed discussion is not welcome on this thread.

Welcome @Brandon Smith,I am new to the BP family as well, but I am a Licensed Architect in Chicago and have specialized in residential construction (New construction and remodeling) over the past 6 years, and plan to embark into the real estate investment world in the near future.