Foreclosures are great investments indeed, but some people might prefer to stay a few steps ahead of the competition to secure premium pieces of foreclosure property even before they go up on public auction.

This is where short sales and preforeclosures come in.
Homeowners that are having a hard time financing their homes can decide to sell their homes at a discount a.k.a. a short sale. Other homeowners may already receive notices of foreclosure and can decide to sell their homes before they go public a.k.a. a preforeclosure.

If you are in the market for these kinds of properties, then it will definitely be worth your time to follow these tips to find those preforeclosure and short sale homes before others beat you to it:

Check with your local county court
One of the most reliable ways to scope out potential foreclosure deals is to pay a visit to your local county court. Some courts record Notices of Default as court documents. You can then ask around how to search the more recent filings for potential properties to snap up. Other courts, on the other hand, don’t consider these notices as court documents or will refuse access to non-involved individuals. You will then need to explore the other alternatives to find upcoming home foreclosures.

Scan the local papers
Homeowners sometimes advertise their homes on the classified section, while the legal section of your local newspaper will provide information on properties scheduled to come up for sale at a public auction. You can then take the initiative from this point on, but remember to gather as much information as you can before contacting the numbers listed on the ads. Driving by the address given will give you an idea about the condition of the house and neighbourhood, while you can look up the properties at the County Recorder’s office for extra information on the notices of default.

Sign up for preforeclosure listings
Short sale listings and preforeclosure listings can be found on the Internet, and will automatically hand you a list of properties that you can scope out. Simply take note of the state, county and city you want to purchase in and sign up for these listings.

Explore other online resources
Short sale and preforeclosure listings are not the only things you can find on the ‘net. Some online resources like the Nationwide Environmental Title Research (NETR) collect and store real estate information. For example, NETR’s public records online directory will allow you to pick out a state, enter a zip code and find out information from real-estate offices around the country.