Both the home owners and lenders across the United States are suffering because of current real estate crisis. The number of bank foreclosures and pre foreclosures is at an all time high and are accounting for 40% of all homes sold within the last 2 months (currently it is early Oct/08), and the government bail-outs haven't been the holy grail has expected. The American Dream has now turned into a nightmare for home owners.

So what happens to homes after they're foreclosed? Obviously, someone else will gain from another's loss, which means that some good can come from this crisis. Foreclosed homes are usually sold at auctions for factions of their worth. Lenders will allow the foreclosed homes to sell well below market value, just to quickly recover any loaned amount possible. This can be a good thing for others, including first time buyers and low-income families, who are looking to purchase a home for investment or to reside in. Also if you're buying a foreclosed home the bank will be more accommodating, if you have good credit, as they would prefer a mortgage payment rather then leaving the home abandoned.

Sometimes the owners will get permission from the bank to go ahead and sell their homes before facing foreclosure. This period of time is referred to as 'pre-foreclosure.' The pre-foreclosure period will give the owners some time to sell the house themselves before it's officially foreclosed by the banks. Usually the public is notified of the homes facing foreclosure, and interested buyers can sometimes work out a pre-foreclosure deal with current owners.

Needless to say, there are also opportunities to profit from buying both bank foreclosed and pre-foreclosed homes. Many people who have never had any interest in real estate before are now buying these homes and reselling them for great profits. Foreclosed homes can sometimes be sold for as much as 75% off of their market value. Imagine how much money a person could make by buying even just one foreclosed home and reselling for 100% profit. It happens to people that are willing to take action every day. How are these people finding out what homes are going to be sold at government auctions?

Details about pre-foreclosed homes and foreclosed homes can be found on the Internet. There are a lot of government auction sites that provide information on homes facing foreclosures in every state. Unfortunately, there are some sites that are misleading the public, so you need to be informed when you sign up for a membership. Thankfully, there are legitimate government auction sites that provide detailed information about home foreclosures. So how can we know which sites are worth the membership and which ones are not.

Thankfully, government auction 'review' sites make it easy to do research by providing information about the top membership sites. You can find out what sites have the most trustworthy, up-to-date information about foreclosed homes and government auctions. These reviews test government auction sites through certain criteria, and evaluate accordingly.

Whether you're interested in simply getting a good deal on your dream home or investing for a profit, you need to read the reviews about the top government review sites before deciding which ones to enroll in. This way, you'll get all the detailed information on which sites offer the best up-to-date information on home foreclosures and avoid any scams. Here are four steps to follow to help you down the right path:

- Read free reviews at a government auction reviews

- Go to to one of the top recommended government sites and become a member

- Check out all the detailed foreclosure listings until you discover a selection of homes that you like in your price range

- Where possible check out the houses of interest and afterward attend the goverment auction that the properties where listed with