Home foreclosures: how to buy a bargain

Home foreclosures rose 230 percent across the San Fernando Valley, 260 percent across LA County and 14 percent nationwide, according to a Daily News story and an ABC news story.

As bad as you and I may feel for those who lose their homes, let's be practical. For folks who don't own a home, foreclosures may be the only way to get into the market because they can be priced up to 30% off. So how does one buy a foreclosed home?

A story on eHow.com explains the process in 12 steps.

The story offers great, basic advice - from where to find foreclosed homes to negotiating with banks - but ends with this caveat: "Beware that buying foreclosed property has a very low probability of success for all of the above conditions and because many people try to do it."