The clock starts approximately 180 days after the date of first delinquency on the account.

While SFH’s are the first thing many newbie real estate investors consider, as a whole they are seldom the best way to invest, if your goal from investing is to obtain a high rental yield. This is because SFH’s have high maintainence costs and it is very difficult to obtain the economies of scale in maintenance and repairs with a SFH that you can get with a larger building. (One possible exception would be if you could buy multiple SFH’s in the same vicinity).

The classic way some people do make money from SFH’s is through buying a rundown property, investing lots of sweat equity in fixing it up, then selling at a profit. Great if your home repair knowledge is already very good or you are willing to learn. This is essentially buy low/sell high investing rather than investing for income.

There are also some unique ways to make money with SFH’s that require a bit of research or local knowlege on the investor’s part. For example, a morning spent at the town hall building investigating local codes can yield some interesting possibilities. For example, can a single family house be converted to a two family? Can a lot be divided into two? Most likely the answer is “No”, but sometimes it is yes, creating several new avenues of profit.

But speaking generally, the type of investment I’d recommend to a real estate newbie is a 2 family or 3 family house. They can be financed as easily as a single family house and allow one the opportunity both to have a place to live and get one’s feet wet at being a landlord. Living in the house you are likely to be around to nip any problems in the bud - and guaranteed there you will find problems.

Thanks for the comment. You’re right, I assumed that the question related to determining whether or not to invest, not how to find specific properties for sale.

I think your advice there is sound. People shouldn’t forget to check Craigslist as well, which is also a great source of information.

Using Google to search for realtor’s in your area and using sites like forsalebyowner.com and realtor.com will put you on the right track to start to learn about real estate in your area or an area you are looking to move into.

The next question “what is the best way to research…”?

Again use the web and call starving real estate agents on the phone, they will return your call and will be the best source of information. A real estate agent is going to sell to you retail but travel down the rabbit hole further it will start to become obvious there are opportunities to buy at wholesale or even FIRE SALE!

As an MBA student I can see how your answer translates for academic reasons, however it totally misses the point from a practical standpoint.