ONE WORD: BUY (IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING)

In today's real estate market, there is a floodgate of opportunity that is swinging itself open to give investors more options then they can shake a finger at. With foreclosures happening at an alarming rate, there are plenty of dirt cheap homes to go around. But in the midst of this incredible market for buyers, there are plenty of ways to kill yourself when it comes to finding the cheapest home in the neighborhood. Take a look at this article for indepth ways to avoid making a bad investment.

Working at my brother's company, Heber Real Estate, LLC, in the summer of 2008, I was right in the middle of the world of foreclosures and I picked up on a few things. To give a little background, I was the only employee in a company that devoted itself to shortsales (buying homes from the bank before foreclosure). A shortsale consists of talking to the homeowner, negotiating with the bank, contacting an attorney's office, and most of the time, working with a contractor too. Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot of money to be made in this area, but it just takes too much time. There are efficient ways of harvesting money from the field of foreclosures, and this is not one of them.

So how do you find the safest, most lucrative way to capitalize on foreclosed homes? Well according to an article on CNBC.com there are 7 key things that could be the difference between a huge loss and a big profit.

• Look for mis-priced listing
• Make sure repair costs fit the plan
• Check the neighborhood, is it good or bad?
• Pay cash, if possible
• Buy at the year-or quarter-end
• Go look at the property rather than just online
• Go directly to the listing agency

Any of these steps are key to making a successful investment in real estate. If you want to turn over a property and come out way ahead, it will be well worth the time. There are a few things you can do to gather the information you need. First, start with your local county records; it should have a full list of all foreclosures in the area. Second, once you've found an ideal home, look at the prices of houses nearby to see the price for which they were sold or selling. Third, go look at the home and the neighborhood, and think about whether or not you would like to live there yourself. Many times, a neighborhood makes all the difference.

If you think the market for buyers provides plenty of ways to get rich, think again, the real steals are few and far between, but one thing is for sure - there are more now than ever, you just have to go out there, do the research, and find them!