Every bank in Michigan has foreclosures or those about to hit the foreclosure list.
Trick is to find them just before the foreclosure, or during the "period of redemption" where the property "holder" formerly the owner still has redemption rights.
Here is a couple easy places to look.
www.Realtor.com
www.reo.com
http://www.countrywide.com/purchase/f_reo.asp
www.mcb.com (hud homes) $100 dn stuff if owner occupied.
Then check the legal papers in each county, as nearly all foreclosures are published as to the stage of foreclosure, time publish, etc.
Then check the county seat where you can find the listings of the local sherriff sales prior to the auction. Cut a deal with the person in possession prior to the sale and walk with a good deal if you are "with cash" or have "means".
Many agents don't make much of a living from foreclosures and therefore don't really know where to find them or how to even look for them.
Some banks will handle their own foreclosures, but most don't and turn it over to clearing houses who specialize in doing nothing but foreclosures going down thru the process on behalf of the bank and handing the property over to the bank when done, with previous owner removed from the home.
Unfortunately, there is no one clearing house for foreclosures and funny as it may seem, many homes once foreclosed get handed over to a local broker to "skin" out, or get rid of the house "no matter what it takes".
Since nearly all loans are insured against loss, there is little the banks have to loose by selling them cheaply. Unfortunately these clearing houses, sell with "no strings" which means no warrantee whatsoever, and they will take many offers without letting each offerer know that they have taken several only to notify the winner a couple weeks before a closing on the sale.
HUD houses are the best deal as they are closed bid only homes and the home goes to the highest bidder...period. You win the bid you follow thru on closing and a "close by" date. If you have to extend usually it costs you money to buy the time to extend. Down side is they don't provide a title policy for the home. The good news is they will credit you with up to $2500 toward fix ups and any repairs which can include the title insurance in that pool of money. You must be "pre-approved" for a loan or have the cash...and show the deposit as condition to bid.
No silly games that often get played by the banks trying to sneek better offers into the mix all the time...working one buyer against the next.
Still there are some good buys out there if you know where to look and how to go about this.
