WSJ Article On Foreclosure Investing

The Wall Street Journal has an article today about foreclosure investing. Actually, it's more of the story of how one man invests in foreclosures. This guy buys foreclosed houses in bad neighborhoods, sight-unseen. He doesn't bother to fix them up. Instead, he sells them for low down payments and monthly payments that are lower than neighborhood rents. He sells them as-is and lets the new owners make repairs. Last year, he bought over 1,400 homes.

In reading the article, I can't help but think this is the type of investor that gives other real estate investors a bad name. He's doing nothing illegal and you could argue that he is filling a need, but overall, I think most people would accuse him of taking advantage of the less fortunate. Funny, but normally, foreclosure investors are accused of this when the buy properties in pre-foreclosure. This guy would get accused of that when selling his properties post-foreclosure, which just goes to show you can't please everyone, I suppose.