How to Find the Best Foreclosure Deals

Because of the struggling economy, many homeownersarefacingforeclosure. If you are looking for a home to buy, you might consider purchasing a foreclosure. This will enable you to buy a home below the market value. Before looking for a foreclosed home, you need to research your options to get a great deal.

You can look online at the foreclosure sale notices to see what homes are for sale. Your local newspaper will also list foreclosure notices. You can even subscribe to foreclosure listings, so you can see the best deals on homes. A lender will conduct a foreclosure auction; therefore, you need to arrange to attend the proceedings.

Before attending an auction, make sure that you have enough money available to purchase the property. If you will need to finance the home, you need to get pre-approved for a loan, so the money will be accessible.

Before attending an auction, drive by the home to make sure it is in good condition. You can also look at the neighborhood to see if it is safe and welcoming. When you find a home that you would like to purchase, you need to register with the person conducting the auction. They will want to know information about yourself, and they will need proof that you can afford the home.

You can then attend an auction and bid on the property. Make sure you do not go over your price range. If homes are not sold at auctions, you need to keep checking with the bank. In some cases, banks will be desperate to get rid of a home, so the price will continue to decline.

It also might be a good idea to hire a real estate agent. They will be familiar with properties that are close to foreclosure proceedings. You can then purchase a great home at an excellent price.

Do you want to be financially and physically fit?

I really liked reading advice about being financially and physically fit together on a recent online excursion. It seems that the two things can go hand in hand. So I decided to experiment with part of the article

Joining a Gym, or Leaving?

It seems really obvious that joining a gym and then not going every day isn’t really a financially sound practice, but I got so used to belonging to the gym that I basically stopped thinking about physical activity anywhere else.

It’s sort of like the dishwasher breaking and panicking that there are no clean dishes without remembering that you can hand wash dishes by hand. I just stopped thinking about physical exercise outside of the gym.

This article definitely broke it down into actual money I can save. So before terminating my gym membership which is actually cheaper than the $125 fee mentioned in the article, it costs $80 a month so it’s actually less than three dollars a day, I figured I’d try exercising outside of the gym, just to make sure.

Walking: The first thing that’s weird about walking rather than going to the gym is that there’s no machine telling me how fast I’m going or how long I’ve been at it or whether my heart rate has reached some optimal level. All that stuff is easy to readjust to for a few days just by committing to an amount of time you’re going to walk.

The second thing that took some adjustment was creating a walking route. For some reason it’s easier for me if I have a planned route. So I started with the whole around the block thing which didn’t take up the 45 minutes I know I should be spending walking. The simple solution for me was walking to some nature trails that are about three blocks away from my home.

The third thing I discovered is that I’d come to rely on the TV at the gym. Suddenly I was looking at my surroundings instead of watching TV. Trying to pick up some speed is a sure cure for the TV withdrawal. Paying attention to the ground also takes more focus than moving on a gym machine so I’m missing the TV less.

But I’m not an all-weather walker yet. If it’s raining, I’m not out there. Maybe I will at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet. When I start getting annoyed with myself on days I don’t go outside because of the weather, I think about the days I didn’t go to the gym either! Those were not a few, I can tell you!

Doing some exercises inside can fill the gap but I haven’t incorporated a great routine into my bad weather workouts yet. Also I found out my gym needs thirty days notice for me to terminate so if you’re thinking of doing this, you might want to find out the kind of notice your gym requires. And watch for any penalties that you may get, those contract clauses can come back to bite you!

Lunch Time

As far as the eating smart and saving money advice in the article, I liked the idea of purchasing gourmet meals from the grocery store. Still, I have to admit I like going out for dinner sometimes. There are some pretty reasonable places to eat in my area so instead of going to the most expensive places I can go to one of the less expensive places.

But if food variety is the issue for you, those gourmet meals in the food store sound like a great alternative to try. I do like the portion control (and calorie control) of pre-made meals which kind of force you to stop over-consuming, just make sure you don’t buy the double packs, or extra large servings. So I’m sure I’ll be trying them at some point.

Get a Life Cycle/Bicycle?

And you’ll notice I didn’t talk about the life cycle or bicycle. I’ll be damned if I actually know what a life cycle is! I did ride a couple of ‘special’ bikes at the gym, but I couldn’t remember if that was what they were called. And for bicycling, I’ve never been good at that, … I always get a sore ‘behind’ much quicker than my patience running out. So I’m not sure I’ll be trying either of those out any time soon!

Make Sensible Decisions

Sounds obvious, but there are times where we are spending money and we may actually be impairing our health. So look at your spending, check out the AceCashExpress Blog for some helpful financial advice.

Did you like this blog review? Are you financially and physically in shape in 2012? Or have you already broken your 2012 Resolutions? Share!