Lately, a lot of real estate investors are shifting their focus to the foreclosure market in the United States. It's easy to understand why. There are more foreclosed homes on the market today than any other point in history. These homes also represent a potentially good investment, since you can often get them for less than market value.

Above all else, the modern investor needs three things to ensure success when buying one of these properties. The investor needs (A) familiarity with the state's foreclosure laws and procedures, (B) ready access to financing, and (C) access to foreclosure listings / data.

I've addressed the first two items in previous articles, so here I would like to talk about item 'C' in the list above. I'd like to talk about foreclosure listing data, where it comes from, and how to use it to your advantage.

You obviously cannot evaluate or purchase a foreclosed home until you know about it, and that's where listing data comes into the picture. Currently, there are a handful of web-based services / companies who can provide this kind of data. RealtyTrac and Foreclosures.com are two of the most popular.

The question is, where do these services get their data? The answer to that question depends on the service and the particular state involved.

A Foreclosed Home in the Making

When a home goes into foreclosure, it actually happens through a series of acts (as opposed to one single act). The process starts with the initial default -- the point at which the homeowner fails to make a monthly mortgage payment. Now this initial default, by itself, won't lead to foreclosure. Most banks would rather avoid that process as much as the homeowner would. Foreclosure is an expensive process for the banks, so they would rather the homeowner get back on track with the mortgage payments.

So there are several stages in the path, and at most of these stages some kind of paperwork is filed. Banks can't just swoop in a take people's homes away -- they have to go through the proper series of foreclosure actions as defined by their city, county and state laws. So they must file paperwork at certain stages.

There is not a "one size fits all" process of foreclosure in the United States. The process varies from one state to the next, and sometimes even from one county to the next within the same state. In most states, however, the paperwork filings we mentioned above will eventually become public record. At that point, investors can access the data and use it to research (and possibly bid on) the property involved.

The Data Cycle and Sources

Since much of this data is public record, an investor could actually obtain the data directly from the source. But this would mean scouring the public records for foreclosure filings in that particular county. It's certainly something you could do, but in most cases it is time-consuming to the point of being prohibitive. Remember, there's a lot of competition for foreclosed homes in most cities, so you need to be efficient and agile.

Once again, this is where the online tracking services come into the picture. Basically, these services do all the legwork for you in order to collect pre-foreclosure data just as soon as it becomes available. Furthermore, these services give you an easy and convenient path to this information. For example, you can sign up for alerts on local foreclosure activity and then receive email notifications about new property listings.

Of course, it costs these companies money to provide such a convenient service. On the front end, they have efficient workflows and people in place to collect data as it becomes available. On the back end, they have efficient communication systems in place to get that same data to their customers who have requested it. This gives the investor constant access to fresh listing data on foreclosures in the area, and the investor doesn't have to do anything but sign up for the service.

So while you will certainly have to pay for this kind of service, the old adage applies ... you get what you pay for. Most of these tracking services offer a free trial of some kind. So my advice is to take advantage of that, compare two or three services, and choose the one that works best for you.

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