foreclosure buying....

Admit it...you all want to know about it and how to get in on it....This thing we call foreclosures...."diamonds in the rough, equity gold mines"  you heard them called alot of things....and want to know how to make a sweet profit...  Unfortunately even though foreclosures are a great way to buy property especially if you are planning on occupying the property, they are not a gold mines or a easy way to make a profit.  They are alot of hard work and in the current market trend, the profit on these units have shrunk dramatically from what they use to be, before the boom....
I get this question on a daily basis..."how can I buy a foreclosure"?  There's many ways to buy foreclosures. 
One way you may have heard abou,t is buying on the court house steps.  When you purchase a home at the courthouse steps,  a few things you need to keep in mind:  1.  You usually have no access to the house, it is bought sight unseen.  You can usually walk around the house and get the public information on the house, but you can not enter the house.  It is usually required that you put down at least 10% of the purchase price of the home on the day of the auction.  This is a great way to obtain a propery as long as you are comfortable with the information and have the means for the down payment. 
Another way to purchase foreclosures is thru HUD (housing and urban development)  This is usually done thru a real estate professional.  HUD is a great way to purchase a home, however it is usually open to a owner occupant (someone who plans on living in the property for at least 2 years) for the first 15 days.  After that period, if it doesn't sell to a owner occupant it is open to everyone on a daily bid.  Sometimes HUD will even pay for closing cost and if you use their closing co.  you usually can get free Title Insurance ( Owners Policy)  Last but no least...you can use a Real Estate professional to buy a foreclosure directly from a bank.  This means the home has gone thru the complete foreclosure process and is owned by the bank and is deeded to the bank.  This process is very easy...but keep in mind that if they are priced well and in a good location you may be bidding against many other buyers...This can happen in all 3 of these scenarios so be prepared to pay the price the bank wants and sometimes over the asking price.   I hope this information has helped...please contact me if you have any other questions.  This is just a small amount of information about buying foreclosures.