You’re shopping for a house, and the one you’ve got your eye on as “perfect” is a preforeclosure . This is a great time to leap on it for a potential bargain, along with the chance to get to know the house before you buy. “If you can get to a home as a preforeclosure before it goes into foreclosure, that’s the best route,” explains Donny Piwowarski , a top-selling agent who works with 84% more single-family homes than the average agent in his region of Tracy , California. “A foreclosure goes to the courthouse steps, and with such constraint on inventory, it’s going to be very competitive, with well-seasoned investors that have a lot of cash to buy foreclosures ,” he says. “Whereas with a preforeclosure, you have the ability to finance that transaction and the benefit of seeing the property. And because you’re working with the homeowners, you’ll have access to the disclosures.” So you’ve identified the property, know why it could be a great investment — and now you need to know how