Are you interested in buying foreclosed properties as investments? There are dozens of ads being run these days, especially on Internet sites, offering to provide you with lists of foreclosed homes. Most of these ads would have you believe that these lists are totally free and without obligation. Ask yourself, "are these people really so generous that they would spend their time, effort, and money to set up Web sites and provide this information out of the kindness of their hearts"? The answer, quite obviously, is no. There is, as they say, no free lunch!

However, every county in Colorado has a governmental entity called a Public Trustee, and they do have websites on which you can get detailed information on homes in foreclosure. This information is both free and without any strings or gimmicks. In El Paso County, go to http://put2.elpasoco.com/pteledem.asp.

Colorado is unique in the way it handles foreclosures. When you take out a loan on a property, a Deed of Trust (commonly referred to as a mortgage, which is a bit of misnomer in the state) is filed with the county public trustee. Should you fail to keep up with payments, your lender will, eventually, file what is called a notice of election and demand, asking the Public Trustee to initiate a foreclosure action (see the Web site referenced for complete details on the process). When the foreclosure action is initiated, the information is posted on the Web site of the Public Trustee in the county in which the property exists.

It might also interest you to know that foreclosed homes are seldom bargains, despite the hype you may read. Rarely does anyone with any appreciable equity allow his/her home to go into foreclosure. Unless you have the considerable knowledge and clout to negotiate with lenders and other lien holders, to accept payoffs considerably lower than what is owed, you will not find the good deals that are touted.

As with any other deals that sound too good to be true, these usually are too good to be true. Never get involved in any Real Estate transactions with ANYONE, including me, without doing a lot of homework. Fear and greed are the factors, which get people into trouble more than any other, and there are hundreds of wolves out there just waiting to get their teeth into you!

Terry Shattuck
Re/Max Properties Inc.
719-632-6806
www.ColoradoSpringsHomesOnline.net
www.ColoSpgsHome.com
Terry@ColoSpgsHomes.com