Foreclosures spike -- and they will get much worse. Foreclosures increased in 46 states and in 90 of the nation's 100 largest metro areas. Yes folks bargain hunters are flocking into the foreclosures market. These ?real estate owned? homes always have a clear title, which saves time, expense and general worries about foreclosures.

Foreclosures are properties that have been foreclosed by a mortgage lender and are now for sale through foreclosure auction. Foreclosures increased in 46 states and in 90 of the nation's 100 largest metro areas. Foreclosures are on the rise and with it the numbers of abandoned homes are also increasing. After a foreclosure is completed, they will coordinate with a local real estate agent to get the property listed and sold. If governments or agencies want to help people in foreclosure, they really could learn from the people who have marketed to distressed homeowners for many years.

Mortgage delinquencies rose in the first quarter to 6. Mortgage rates are at a 2 year low and they are predicted to come down even further. The Mortgage Bankers Association's first quarter report showed a record 2. It isn't really worth it to continue making payments on an underwater mortgage and at 11% [usury] interest rate. Be sure to do your homework and figure out what a property would rent for and compare that to what your monthly mortgage payments would be. Some regions that had been only slightly hurt by the mortgage meltdown recorded large increases in filings. When it comes to foreclosure auctioning, usually no third party bidders offer to buy the foreclosed properties.

Buying a foreclosure home or a bank foreclosed property can be a great way to save on a foreclosure real estate, since you can usually buy them for much more below their retail market value. A lender may either repair the property or give a discount to the buyer to make repairs. These types of properties provide a unique opportunity to home buyers and investors by offering them a chance to purchase property for far less than its normal market value. It appears that REDC (US Home Auctions) is going to be quite busy this month and earning some nice commissions (5% ?Buyers Premium?). Purchasing foreclosed homes can be a great and profitable experience, if you take the time to educate yourself on the complexities of buying foreclosure homes.

Since whether your house is worth as much as you paid for it shouldn't normally affect whether you can afford to pay your mortgage (unless you're taking the drastic step of "walking away" just because of the decline in value -- a gamble, considering your credit rating gets shot). Also, banks are dishonest about a lot of foreclosures because they are dragging their feet in sending out default notices so that they don't have to report them on their financials and also because they are waiting and hoping for a bailout.