The preforeclosure stage is a time when a homeowner is behind on his or her mortgage and the lender has filed an official Notice of Default (NOD) or Lis Pendens (LIS) to recoup the payments.

This will often lead to foreclosure if the homeowner cannot come up with the cash or negotiate a deal with the lender to remain in the home.

Rather than face eviction and endure personal credit turmoil, a distressed homeowner in preforeclosure will often look to sell the property as soon as possible and use the proceeds to pay off outstanding debts with the lender and relocate.

It’s an unfortunate situation — one that is outside the control of anyone but the homeowner and lender. However, working with a homeowner to resolve the matter before foreclosure is one way to help and provide him or her with much-needed relief.

It can also translate into huge savings because preforeclosure investing gives you the most options and highest percentage of profit.

Here’s a tip to get you started:

When working preforeclosures, the earlier you make contact with the homeowners, the more options you have to capitalize on great deals.

How do you do that?

First, you need to identify homeowners in your area who are in preforeclosure. This can be accomplished at no cost or obligation using our FREE 7-Day Trial.

With a solid set of leads it is then smart to drive into the neighborhoods and canvas the homes from the curb to determine which are the most desirable.

The next step is to communicate with the homeowner. This can be done in a few different ways, and we recommend that you try multiple approaches to ensure that you get noticed by the homeowner.

Here are a few quick methods to contact a homeowner in preforeclosure:

• Letters
• Post cards
• Contact the homeowner’s attorney
• Direct purchase
• Short sale
• Mortgage purchase

We expand on each of these strategies in our e-Book entitled “Cash-in on the Foreclosure Process: How to buy a Foreclosure.”

This educational resource is packed with tips and advice that is required reading if you plan to get started investing in distressed real estate.

Best of all, we’ll email it to you at no cost with our FREE 7-Day Trial.