Every Thursday evening, a group of us get together and go through all the properties that are scheduled to be auctioned off the following morning at the court houses. You certainly can't have your heart set on a place under these circumstances. The bank can bid you up at the auction along with some other investors who wants it too. You may be outbid by someone who plans to live in it and don't care about having equity in it so they could re-sell it and make a profit. The bank may decide after you stand there in the middle of a snow storm that they are going to postpone auctioning off the property, again, for the 5th time.

 You also can't think about the people that use to live there much as the people who live there now that you will have to displace. We seem to forget after crunching the numbers...no, the minimum bid is too high...yes, this property has a very nice minimum bid...not much spread here but there's great cash flow...that at one time this house was a home to it's former owners. A home that, at the time the owner purchased it, meant alot and buying it was one of the most exciting and important decisions in that person's life.

As I walked away from our investor group, I felt the same sense among the investors. They were excited to make a bid for that property. The same property that the former owners, who lost it due to whatever circumstances, was excited about when they purchased it. In conclusion, after working with so many pre-foreclosure properties, buying a home is still an American Dream that will forever fuel our minds and soul. It enforces the reason why I came into the real estate business, building the homeownership dream. It is still a great way for anyone to start building wealth in America.