Hi there real estate investors and entrepreneurs.

I wanted to provide you with a checklist of “buy signals” that experienced pre-foreclosure investors. look for and find when evaluating an investment property.  These are sure signs that you’re on your way to buying your next investment property at a substantial discount.

You don’t need to have all seven factors together in one place, but when you find one of these signals, the others are usually right around the corner (no pun intended).

Buy Signal #1: Homeowner Is Behind On The Mortgage Payment

This is an obvious one, but I thought it needed to be included in the list.  Many homeowners who fall into foreclosure cannot bring their account current and end up losing the property at sale.

When homeowners can’t affored to pay the mortgage, they cannot afford to maintain the house or the grounds either.

Buy Signal #2: Grass Is Overgrown

After many years of running the streets as a pre-foreclosure investor, I learned to pick out (in an instant) the house in foreclosure as soon as I turned onto the street.

Overgrown grass can sometimes be telling you that the house is in some kind of trouble.

Buy Signal #3: Windows Are Busted Out

Busted out windows are usually found in vacant or abandoned properties.

When the owner moves out, sometimes the neighborhood kids like to get together and pull out their personal rock collections and proceed to work on their throwing motions. This usually involves knowing which target to select.

Buy Signal #4: Rotten And Exposed Wood

A house that has extensive rotten wood on the exterior has probably been neglected for many years. It’s shocking sometimes what people will put up with when it comes to sub-standard living conditions.

I once met with a seller who had a huge hole in the kitchen ceiling. The whole was so big that you could see clear up to the sky. I met with this homeowner for several hours discussing his situation with the house.

Not one time did the homeowner say anything about the huge hole in the roof. Very strange.

Buy Signal #5: No Garden Hose

I have found this one item in the list to be more telling than any of the others.

For some reason, whether or not the house had a garden hose connected to the outside faucet told me if it was occupied or vacant.

If the green garden hose was still connected, the house was usually occupied. If the garden hose was gone, 9 times out of 10, that house was vacant.

Buy Signal #6: No Furniture

Usually when you suspect that a house is vacant, you peer into the nearest window to confirm your gut instinct.

You’ll know that the seller has moved on when you see the furniture is missing.

Buy Signal #7: Neighbors Haven’t Seen Them

Usually there will be a neighbor or two that can tell you something about the seller.

If there was a problem with the house and the seller couldn’t fix it, the neighbors will know about it. They are sometimes a very good source of information

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