Catch them while you can.

That’s the opportunistic approach that many investors in major real estate markets such as Detroit, Mich., Las Vegas, Nevada, Miami, Fla., Phoenix, Ariz., and Tampa, Fla., are taking as home prices plunge at or below 2002 levels.

Foreclosed homes and other discounted distressed deals are being “snapped up” with a quickness, “forcing down” collective home prices and “thinning the supply of homes” by as much as 13 percent, according to BusinessWeek.com.

In fact, the report reveals that 35 percent of previously-owned homes purchased in March 2011 were done so with cold-hard cash, indicating that investors are hoping to buy low today and sell high someday in the future.

Mike Shannon, an agent who specializes in Detroit-area foreclosures, marvels at the recent surge in buyer activity:
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Our nation’s most recent — and now deceased — Public Enemy #1 was none other than Osama bin Laden.

The elusive mastermind and figurehead of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization, al-Qaida, was recently shot and killed in a daring raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, ending a 10-year manhunt for the man who planned the deadly attacks on the United States back on Sept. 11, 2001.

Despite his seemingly humble rag-tag existence, bin Laden was a man of wealth, inheriting more than $300 million when his billionaire father, who was a construction magnate in Saudi Arabia, died in a plane crash in 1967.

He was also not an only child. Not even close — he has more than 50 siblings. And most of them, unlike their sinister brother, are well-to-do business men and women.

Khalil bin Laden actually owned a luxurious 1920s-era vacation home in Oakland, Fla., up until the 9/11 attacks. He quickly vacated the five-bedroom, Mediterranean-style mansion,”fearing they might be targeted because of the terrorist attacks,” according to an Associated Press report today, and sold it for $4 million in 2006.

That home, which overlooks 1,200 feet of private lake shoreline, as well as boasts a pool, horse stables and a four-car detached garage, is now the subject of foreclosure after the unnamed businessman who purchased it defaulted on the mortgage.

It is now on the market with a drastically reduced asking price of $1.99 million. Although is has been described as an “amazing property,” Forbes recently branded it as one of the “creepiest abandoned mansions” in the nation.

Ouch.

Foreclosure sales and auctions are all the rage these days. Distressed real estate deals are so plentiful that even the cash-laden investors are having a difficult time keeping pace.

Those who do, typically do quite well. And they will likely be doing even better as their discounted purchases appreciate over time.

However, it’s not as easy as most “do it yourself” home renovations on television today would lead you to believe.

On the contrary, you need to do your homework to ensure that you don’t lose your shirt — and thousands of dollars — investing in a foreclosure lemon. The flipside to that coin is that you can also be pleasantly surprised with what you find in your “as-is” real estate money machine.

So what can go wrong, and what can work in your favor, at a public foreclosure auction? The Orange-County Register runs through a few “Risk vs. Reward” scenarios in an article today.

Check them out:

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Iconic pop star, Prince, recently avoided foreclosure on his 20-acre spread in Chanhassen, Minn., paying a delinquent mortgage bill of $368,000 in full, according to The Star Tribune.

His lender, Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., filed for foreclosure and a public auction was set for May 13, 2011. The scare tactic apparently worked.

The seven-time Grammy Award-winner now owns the land, which he purchased for $605,000 in 1994, free and clear. He razed the home on the property — now worth an estimated $1.15 million — back in 2005.

According to Prince’s representative, Kiran Sharma, “payment has been made” to the bank for the entire amount “about four or five days ago.”

This foreclosure threat was one of the many recent financial delinquencies the 52-year-old pop star has recently encountered.

In fact, Prince just paid $1.3 million for current and delinquent property taxes that were owed from 2009 and 2010. He was also behind on paying the tax bills in 2006 and 2008.

For more celebrity-related foreclose news check out our archive right here.