Foreclosures Increase , Investors

Foreclosures Increase, Foreclosure Process

"Smitha has been involved in real estate for 30 years as a licensed broker and agent, and has been a builder for the past 12. He said he has been an investor all along, but his pace has picked up during the past couple years as the market has declined.

"It presents some risks but on the other side of the coin in presents opportunities: The best time to buy is when everyone else thinks you shouldn't," he said. "The best time to sell is when everyone else thinks you should buy."

Smitha is among the more than half of auction buyers who are investors, not owner occupants. He awaits closing on it, then plans to fix it up and sell or lease it sometime next spring. Still, he said he expects to spend more than $40,000 to repair and renovate it.

That's an even greater risk in a down market — but he sees much the same upside that Tadeus and Lorraine Cyman saw 30 years ago, including a nice neighborhood, solid school district and ample living space.

"There are literally hundreds of these houses on the market in the Detroit area," he said. "It's sad but obviously I didn't create the problem. Someone has to buy these and fix them up. Rental Property Insurance

"Really, what people like me do, is return a house to the market in a livable condition that prior to that most people didn't want to walk through." Foreclosure Investors