First, you can ride around your local neighborhood and get the addresses of foreclosures (they are properties that are boarded up) that you are interested in.  You then take that information down to the county clerk or register’s office in the county the property is located.

Once there, you go to the books which are listed by address.  They are usually right in the lobby or you can go to someone who works in the office and ask if they can look the property up for you. If you have more than one, then you probably should look through the books. Then you can get the bank’s information and contact them and find out the following:

1) If they still own the property or did they sell it to another bank

Many times than not, the original lender sells the property to another bank which may not be recorded on the deed.

2) If they still have it, how much are they asking

If the bank still owns the property, they will give you their asking price. You can then negotiate directly with them if the price is not what you want to pay.  It is very easy to negotiate for a foreclosure because the bank wants to get rid of it as fast as possible.

3) If the owner actually owns the property free and clear

If this is the case, then you will not be able to negotiate any thing with the bank because a “free and clear” title means the borrower paid all of their mortgage payments and the bank released the home.

4) If the owner owns the property, you will then have to try to find the owner

There are many ways to try to find owners of foreclosures. You just have to do your due diligence. Once you find them, you can easily convince them that it would be in their best interest to sell you the property than to just have it sitting there unoccupied for the squatters to take it over.