I never really understood real estate as a youngster. I simply thought you get grown,get a job,get married and buy a house,then one day I found out about this thing called a mortgage. People who supposedly own their homes pay a monthly fee(mortgage note) until it adds up to the total purchase price. And it doesn't stop there because on top of that there's interest added to those monthly notes which means you end up paying more than the actual purchase price. That $200,000 house now becomes $275,000 or more.

How can you get around this?

Like the old saying goes'"where there's a will there's a way." All over America everyday mortgages are NOT being paid up and when that happens the law basically says that would-be home owner forfeits the right to its possession. This starts a process known as foreclosure. That property goes back to the selling party who still wants that property to be paid off. So the next step in the foreclosure proceedings is to put that property for sale at an auction.

The selling party needs to collect at least the amount owed and this is what usually sets the starting bid. The house up for grabs has a particular market value based on the economics of its location,the quality of materials used to build it, along with any improvements which may have been made. So the smart thing to do is to buy between what's owed and the market value. The difference is known as equity which can actually be pulled out in the form of cash.

For simplicity let's say the market value is 100k with 9k being owed. The bidding begins and you manage to win at 12k. That's $88,000 you saved and you never had to pay a dime of interest! Compare that to what normally happens or even worse...renting! As you can see it's far better to use your saved up cash for the actual purchase of a home via foreclosure auction rather than a mere downpayment on a mortgage.

Foreclosures aren't the only way to own property at incredible discounts because when taxes go unpaid the would-be property owner still loses rights even if the mortgage has been paid! The result is known as a tax-deed sale. Many times this method allows you to buy property at lower costs than foreclosures.

So the next time you or someone you know intends to buy any piece of property look into foreclosures and tax-deed sales. And if you don't have the cash,then get it from Uncle Sam through the form of a grant that you won't have to pay back! It's all alot easier than you think. Believe it or let it alone.