Foreclosed homes can be a great bargain.
These homes have been repossessed after a homeowner has defaulted on their mortgage and sellers are very eager to sell these homes quickly - even if that means lowering the price.
To ensure that the foreclosure you end up buying has the best price possible, however, you need to approach foreclosures homes without emotions.
It is not always obvious, but emotions play a large role in most purchases of traditional, full-priced real estate.
Sellers and real estate agents spend considerable time and money staging a home, painting it, and preparing it for showings.
The hope is that the home will appeal to buyers so much that buyers will want to make an offer.
In some cases, sellers add a few thousand dollars in renovations and cleaning and this added appeal can raise a home's asking price by ten thousand dollars or more.
Foreclosed properties, however, are not prepared in this way because the banks and government agencies owning these properties just want them sold and do not want to put in the extra effort of preparing the properties.
This means that when you look at foreclosures homes, you should not be looking for curb appeal.
In fact, many foreclosures will be priced below market - sometimes well below market value - because they do not show that well.
However, even if a home needs a good cleaning or is a little stinky, you should not let emotions sway you.
Consider the value of the home against the asking price.
When looking at foreclosures homes, you should be considering values and the financial logic of buying the property - you can add emotional appeal for very little money after you buy.