One of the many things that I love about my job as Foreclosure.com Director of Education is to deliver great news!

And that is exactly what I had the opportunity to do last week when we announced the winners of the 2011 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program. The five winners — one grand prize and four runners up — were selected out of almost 10,000 applicants located throughout the United States. Our $5,000 grand prize winner was a freshman from Parsons — The New School in New York, N.Y., Cindy Clinton.

You can watch the video of our recent conversation above.

Cindy is a delightful, smart and witty woman who I enjoyed interviewing. She mentioned that she had seen our scholarship on FastWeb.com and had made a note to herself to apply before the deadline. I am always impressed when I see an organized young students who have plans and then work those plans.

If you are an undergraduate student and are looking for scholarships then you should not miss out on our 2012 topic. We are now in the process of accepting applications and the deadline is December 1, 2012. I would love to interview you this time next year!

Let’s see what you’ve got.

To read Cindy’s winning essay visit the Foreclosure.com Article Center right here. For more on the Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program, as well as to view the 2012 topic and eligibility/submission requirements, click here.

Foreclosure.com today announced the winners of its 2011 scholarship program, which rewards five current college students with a total of $9,000 to put toward their higher educations.

More than 10,000 current college students nationwide answered the call during the 2011 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program, submitting essays of 800 to 1,000 words or more that answered the following question:

“You have acquired $150,000 in cash to be used specifically for a distressed real estate purchase such as foreclosures. Outline a detailed strategy that ensures the maximum return on investment, whether it is in terms of financial profit or personal satisfaction … or both.”

Cindy Clinton, a freshman at Parsons – The New School located in New York, N.Y., however, was voted to the head of the class by our panel of third-party judges, winning the $5,000 top prize.

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Coming off its most successful year ever, the Foreclosure.com scholarship program will once again reward five college students with money to put toward their studies who can best provide a solution(s) to its latest essay topic for 2012.

The subject of the 2012 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program is as follows:

“What creative solutions, programs and/or initiatives to stimulate the United States housing market, as well as to turn the foreclosures tide, must a presidential candidate outline/promise to earn your vote? Feel free to include your very own original stimulus plan and/or ideas in your response, which can also be used to enhance existing platforms from candidates and/or other influential thought leaders.”

Foreclosure.com, which received a record-setting amount of entries (nearly 10,000) from students throughout the nation during its scholarship program in 2011 alone, will accept written essays/plans (800-word minimum, 2,000-word maximum) through its website (www.foreclosure.com/scholarship/) from Jan. 1, 2012, to Dec. 1, 2012.

Five winners will be selected by a third-party panel of judges at the conclusion of the contest and will share $9,000 in allotted scholarship funds. The top prize is a $5,000 scholarship and four $1,000 grants will be awarded to the runners up.

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Popular program returns after wildly successful campaigns in 2009 and 2010 awarded $18,000 in educational grants to financially-assist 10 students

Foreclosure.com today announced that it will once again reward five college students with scholarships who can best provide a solution(s) to its latest essay topic for 2011.

The subject of the Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program 2011 is as follows:

“You’ve acquired $150,000 in cash to be used specifically for a distressed real estate purchase. Outline a detailed strategy that ensures the maximum return on investment, whether it’s in terms of financial profit or personal satisfaction … or both.”

Foreclosure.com, which received thousands of entries from students during its scholarship programs in 2009 and 2010, will accept written essays/plans (800-word minimum, 2,000-word maximum) through its website (http://www.foreclosure.com/scholarship) from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 1, 2011, which is nine months longer than the previous two programs.

Five winners will be selected at the conclusion of the contest and will share $9,000 in allotted scholarship funds. The top prize is a $5,000 scholarship and four $1,000 grants will be awarded to the runners up.

Read the rest of this entry »

When investing in real estate often times we don’t pursue our dreams because we feel like we don’t have the money to put toward making them a reality.

The great thing about distressed real estate, however, is there are different ways to invest. And there are several creative options that you can consider — such as bird-dogging — without touching your daily bank account.

Today, for example, I was asked to present about investing in foreclosures for a self-directed IRA company. A self-directed IRA is a great tool because you can determine how to utilize the fund and guide its path … just like you can with a smart real estate investment.

Real estate, therefore, is a great complement to self-directed IRAs.

As I mentioned earlier, going to work as a “bird dog” is a great way to start becoming an investor. All it takes is a keen eye and forward-thinking organizational skills to turnover the property (or properties) in the shortest amount of time for the most profitable amount (s).

A savvy investor — the person who would lend you the money to bird dog for him or her — is always open to a great deal. There is so much information out there that sometimes him or her misses the golden opportunity because he or she can’t see the forest through the trees.

That’s where you come in.

So don’t let your emotions about money stop you from moving forward. When there’s a will, there is a way