I am going to review some of the top techniques for buying and selling property as a real estate investor. The hottest technique today is the short sale and foreclosure market.

What is a short sale - A sale of a house in which the proceeds fall short of what the owner still owes on the Mortgage. Many lenders and banks will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive the rest of what is owed on the mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments. By accepting a short sale, the lender can avoid a lengthy and costly foreclosure, and the owner is able to pay off the loan for less than what he owes.

The homeowner has several ways to get out of foreclosure.

1) Sell the house for what is owed. Very difficult to do because of credit issues with the borrower and the tightening of lending practices.

2) Deed in Lieu - This is a way of escaping an overly burdensome mortgage. If a homeowner cannot make the mortgage payments and cannot find a buyer for the house, many lenders will accept ownership of the property in place of the money owed on the mortgage. Even if the lender won't agree to accept the property, the homeowner can prepare a quitclaim deed that unilaterally transfers the homeowner's property rights to the lender. Be careful when doing this because the foreclosure will still go on your credit report even if the bank agreed to the Deed In Lieu.

3) Let the bank foreclose. Not the best thing but sometimes people have no other choice especially if they are not good candidates for a short sale.

4) Work with a realtor or investor to do a short sale. Best option if the house has some needed repairs and is at or below market value.

5) Make up the payments and get the house out of foreclosure.

How many Foreclosures are there in the US.

March 2007 U.S. The Foreclosure Market Report, showed a total of 149,150 foreclosure filings this includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. This is up 47 percent from a year ago.

More info on your stop foreclosure information search:

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