With huge houses available for tiny sums, Los Angeles is really the place on the west coast to look for foreclosure properties. There are easily over 10,000 homes available on the default notice, REO (real-estate owned) or auction listings in LA itself ? all for rather unbelievable prices. This may seem like an impossibly good deal to many people, and perhaps till end of 2007 it was.

Starting 2008, however, cities in California have begun passing ordinances that hold lenders and sellers responsible for the up keep and continued water utilities of foreclosure properties in order that the value of surrounding real estate does not go down. And while this means paying a little bit more for a foreclosure property on auction, it also means getting a non-vandalized property in good nick for much cheaper than the market rates.

Foreclosure properties are easily available on listings kept at banks and related government offices. In fact, new foreclosures more than tripled in Los Angeles from 2007 to 2008, including houses in many of the wealthier districts such as Santa Monica, Malibu, Manhattan Beach and so on.

Most foreclosure auctions, whether bank or government, will encourage you to look over the property beforehand so you know exactly what you're getting into. Registration for the auction can be done on the same day and is an extremely easy, streamlined process in order that the property be sold as quickly as possible; a system that benefits all parties involved.