My opinion is that you don't bet against yourself.

You can bet that all the sovereign wealth funds that are making investments in these companies are making a return.

The broker I talked to said he usually charges about 1% of the property price.

Now the way people throw around the world billion, $50 billion sounds like milk money.I bet with the inflation our country is going to go through after this bailout, you will actually need close to that for milk.

A great article... thanks Dan.It sure does fill in some of the gaps, since the "mainstream media" is telling us NOTHING.I particularly liked these two paragraphs:"What terrifies me … what wakes me in a cold sweat … is that the single most corrupt, inefficient, incompetent and idiotic institution on face of the planet is now trying to “fix†the problem.And that especially frightens me because, the closer I examine the roots of this crisis, the clearer it becomes that it was engineered almost entirely by the very bumbling buffoons who are now charged with ending it: The U.S. government."

Also, homeowners in default vacate their houses for any reason they see fit...mostly because they are done caring about the property...they have to leave anyways, why not move on with their life before they bank evicts them.It is also no concern of the investor why the homeowner chooses to move out.If you can swing it timing wise it is a good deal for several reasons...the house doesn't sit vacant....you have somebody living in it that knows the deal (you disclose to them exactly what is happening and charge them a monthly rent below market value)...they can show the house for you if need be...the utilities get paid...and the investor can make some positive cash flow while negotiating...let's stop pretending this is hurting anybody...and most of all...dont make me think for a second we are concerned about the lender losing money because the investor is profiting....its the homeowner in default on the hook and nobody else.

In the past I assumed that it wasn't worth it to go after a debt after eviction because of the very slim chance I actually collect anything.I had not considered that there would be services that would only charge a % of the recovered amount.

You're not collecting the rent, but still have all the expenses (well, hopefully you don't have to evict yourself, I wouldn't make any bets about your friends)You will never be able to get a loan in an entity without a personal guarantee.

Reason: "PERSON in charge of reviewing ALL OFFERS for the REO had a family emergency".

What you get is a template website that's about as original as what's on the children's menu at McDonald's.Some of these so-called gurus will charge you a couple thousand dollars plus $60-$70/month for hosting.For that you could get a custom-built site that will set you apart from the competition.