If the property has bad upkeep, the heirs may not want it which means they stopped paying the mortgage of the decedent and it will go into foreclosure eventually.

Therefore in the next economic downturn we will not see a large foreclosure rate like we did last time, and the real estate investments are more secure now. 

@Khanh Tran If it's in foreclosure, something is very wrong.

Due to the high volume of foreclosures being purchased but not resold at retail value (investors like myself are purchasing to hold), appraisals came in significantly less than the assessed values, Z'estimates, etc. 

I went on to work not only in escrow with my sister, but in the Title company, Originated and processed Mortgage Loans, worked as a Foreclosure Specialist, been a private transaction coordinator and finally now I work as VP of Acquisitions for an international firm, and privately as a trustee and private investor.

Also, consider the number of foreclosures, and vacant lots (owned by the City of Minneapolis), they are still vacant for a reason, those are evidences of investors staying out of North, they know they can't make it work and aren't comfortable with the risk.

Hey everyone, I am looking at a foreclosure property that is up for auction for my first rental property.

‘Driving for dollars’, foreclosure and divorce lists, etc. are way overworked in this internet era.  

If it were mine, I'd ignore the equity in the church as it's the cash cow, and I would not want to upset it's cash flow with a bank repayment or risk foreclosure and losing it.I would also stop spending the cash that comes in, and begin saving it.How long would it take you to save one-million dollars cash (the equity amount in the building)...a year or so?

Now the home is technically in pre-foreclosure but there is no set court dates and they haven't received any letters or notices from the bank about them coning and taking over the property.