Identify Foreclosures Listed For Sale on MLS

RealtyTrac recently expanded their MLS property feeds and now has more than 1 million for-sale properties on the website. The really cool part of this is that they cross-reference their 1.9 million foreclosure records against the MLS properties and allow members to easily identify which foreclosure properties are listed for sale and which for-sale properties are in some stage of foreclosure. That's a very cool consumer feature that no one else has been able to manage on such a wide scale.

Here's a brief overview of how it works. 

Find foreclosures listed for sale
On any Pre-Foreclosure, Auction or Bank-Owned search results page, simply click on the “Listed” column to sort all for-sale properties to the top.

View the listing details -- including price and listing agent contact info
Click on the “For Sale” icon to view the listing information for the property, or click on the property address to view the foreclosure information for the property. Foreclosures that are listed for sale present a clear path to purchase: simply contact the listing agent and begin negotiations.

Find for-sale homes in foreclosure
On any Homes For Sale search results page, look at the “Status” column to see if any listed properties are in some stage of foreclosure. You can also click on the “Status” column to sort all listed properties in some stage of foreclosure to the top of the search results.

Knowing the foreclosure details of a for-sale home gives you extra leverage in making an offer. In addition, knowing what homes are listed for sale, and for what prices, in any given neighborhood will help you determine how much you are willing to offer for a foreclosure in that neighborhood.