You can find the same information by going to your local county or city courthouse and going through the land records. You can find properties on which back taxes are owed, ones that have liens on them by the county or city, and so forth. The TV infomericals simply tell you how to track it down more easily. However, the great deals are few and far between. Yes, you can buy some property for as little as a few hundred or few thousand dollars, but the improvements are likely to be condemned, and the land itself may be land-locked, or in a flood plain, or in some other way undesirable. But, like I said, all that information is publicly available from your county or city.

If you want to get the "How to Make a Million in Your Sleep" kits inexpensively, go to Ebay. Lots of people sell the programs they bought there; I've gotten some good deals on them. You ought to be able to save 50%-80%, on average.

Having said that, the programs/kits generally are accurate as far as they go, but they usually don't give you enough information to complete the whole transaction. So, if you buy directly from the infomerical, make sure there's a real guarantee: Not: "Try this for 30 days and if you can document you've tried our system and it hasn't worked for you, return it for a refund." Instead: "No questions asked 30 days guaranteed refund."

Hope that helps answer your questions.

Jerrett

I can understand your frustration and curiosity. We find a considerable number of people feeling the pinch of Maine's disproportionately high rental market versus income base. A word of caution about - get rich easy schemes - real estate can be a superb investment, but be careful and make sure you hire a professional REALTOR to guide you through the people, process, paperwork involved in sound purchasing decisions. Otherwise it is a bit like sitting at the poker table without understanding the rules of the game - you could "beat the house" but chances are you'd not win. I believe at last glance - Maine ranks about 47/50 states in foreclosure rankings (thankfully) - due to the length of time it takes to go through the process - upwards of one year. That's not to say there aren't deals to be had - but the banks have criteria under which they are accepting offers for these properties. You don't need tons of cash, but some and financing already at pre-approval stage to legitimately have an leverage in putting a deal together. There may be $200 deals - but realistically unless you are heavily leveraged I would say these are long-shots as they can come with significant additional debts you may become responsible for.

Have you thought about the great programs that already exist here in Maine to help you become a home owner? The Maine State Housing Program makes the move from renting to owning possible for many people. The current rate is 4.9% - this is a fixed rate (there are some qualifying criteria). Additionally the Rural Development Program here in Maine is also a great program for helping people buy their first home.There are requirements for qualification for both programs. Check out the links below.

I hope this provides you a little further insight.

http://www.mainehousing.org/
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/me/RHP_CF.htm

Good luck with your search.
Deborah

Jerrett, if you could do that, I'd own 100 houses right now. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.