As many of you know the real estate market is flooded with foreclosures.  However, there seems to be some misconceptions about what a foreclosures is.  Some mistakenly think that all foreclosures are HUD homes.

HUD homes are not the only foreclosed homes out there. Foreclosed homes are often mis-categorized. There’s Pre-Foreclosure, Auction and Post-Foreclosure homes that all get thrown into the mess. 99.9% of all post foreclosure homes are actually listed on most MLS’s.

Post foreclosure homes are bank owned, corporate owned, HUD homes, and some estate property. These are properties that did not sell at the auction or were bought back by the bank.  In the case of HUD homes, these are properties where the seller had an FHA loan on the property and the insurance (our tax dollars) kicked in.

The county usually holds an  auction for CASH for ACTUAL foreclosures, these are listed in the local paper for the area.

Pre-Foreclosures are also called Short Sales in some cases. Most of these will be listed as well.  Short sales can be a great deal and opportunity but do require patience and a easy living arrangement in case the deal falls through. Not all pre-foreclosures are short sales, but most will be.