Lists of foreclosed homes and property are now to be found online. These lists feature houses which have been repossessed by the bank or other mortgage lender, usually due to failure to comply with the mortgage terms. Most often, this will be because of simple failure to keep up payments. The owner's right to the property is terminated, and the property is usually put on the market, often by way of auction.

Many people believe that using the web, auction properties which become available like this can be found and purchased at less than full market value. The idea is that using a free foreclosure list for a particular state or town you will be able to identify properties which banks will simply want to get off their hands as quickly as possible ? in other words, they are not prepared to advertise for a long period to get the best price, so a buyer has a good chance of finding a property bargain. The house bought at auction for a low price can then be resold at a later time for a profit ? so the theory goes.

Traditionally, foreclosed properties are believed to be available for 10-50% below market value.

In addition, investors in this type of property believe that the bank or mortgage lender who put the property up for auction are only really interested in recovering the outstanding sum pledged against the property, so if the auction happens to take place on a 'slow' day, but this outstanding sum is met by a bidder, they will let the property be sold.

So, assuming we are interested in getting information about, or bidding on, foreclosed properties, where do we find the free foreclosure lists?

One of the things a searcher will discover immediately is that it all depends what you mean by 'free'. Many online services will let you browse listings by state or county, and the free listings will include type of property, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, footage, year the house was built, and the price, but for full details and location you need to pay a small registration fee.

StateAuctions offers such a service, which includes the assessed value and the current market values of the properties on offer.

ForeclosuresFreeSearch allows you to find foreclosed properties by using an interactive map of the USA, then drilling down into the county you require. Details in the free list include property, address, zip, and sometimes the price. The newest listings are highlighted. The listing agent details and photos require a subscription.

RegistryLine is a similar map-based foreclosure listing site, which gives basic listings for free, but requires you to become a member for full property details.

ForeclosuresOnline specializes in listing bank and government-owned foreclosed properties, and is updated weekly. As usual, you can check the properties available in your area before deciding to subscribe.

Remember that foreclosures in your area will be publicly notified, usually in newspaper classifieds, in the 'Legal' section or similar. Your local sheriff's office or trustee's office (or their website, if there is one) may also carry a list of upcoming foreclosures. Another tip ? find the next foreclosure sale in your area from your newspaper, attend it, and ask the person conducting the sale where you can get a list of foreclosures for your county.

More info on your stop foreclosure information search:

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