If you're seriously thinking about purchasing your next home or just simply looking for investment properties to rent out, homes in foreclosures can provide the best opportunity to buy discounted real estate in any state. Let me explain to you what you need to do to help you prepare to buy that real estate property.

1. Visit a mortgage specialist from the banks or a broker and first get prequalified for a loan. This is important so you'll know roughly how much you can afford and what price ranges to search for. Have a pre-qualification letter before viewings homes.

2. Start interviewing real estate agents, look for ones that specializes in foreclosure, maybe someone with experience in foreclosure auctions if you have the cash to pay for it. If you're looking for HUD, FHA or VA homes, make sure the real estate agent is certified for those government agencies.

3. Let your agent know how much you can afford, you should factor in the fix up cost and other unexpected cost)

4. View homes with your real estate agent, determine with your agent your up front costs would be, fix up cost, resale value would be for each property you're interested in. Review all available reports about properties you like, have your agent explained them to you if necessary.

5. Find out what the property would rent for, should you decide to lease/rent it out.

6. So you decide on a property, have your agent write a bid.

7. With luck, you'll get the bid in your favor. Make sure you have a thorough home inspection and appraisal done even if all reports were already provided by the selling parties (trust me on this one, you'll have less problem after getting the keys)

8. Using a reliable title company to check for any liens on the property is a must!

9. Well if all things turn out okay like title and home inspection, buy the home, move in, or rent it out or perhaps fix it up and sell it for a profit.