Looking into foreclosed homes sounds easier if you're listening to the radio ads than it really is. Most homes in foreclosure go through a fairly lengthy process before they hit the open market for purchase.

Your first step should be to check the county's listing of homes set to come up for a trustee sale. This info is of public record and your courthouse should be able to help you. You do need to know that to purchase at a trustee's (auction) sale, you will have to purchase the home generally in as-is condition with no opportunity to inspect and in most cases you'll have to provide cash at the auction.

Most foreclosure homes will come to the open market and will be listed with a licensed real estate professional for sale. The banks list them for sale with realtors because they still have an interest in getting the most money they can for the home and realtors offer the best market to achieve that. In many cases, though, foreclosed homes are in tough shape and can be purchased at below-market prices.

Keep in mind that the Montana real estate market is still performing very well... regardless of what we might read in the paper about the national market.