In the case of foreclosure investing there are a few cornerstones that can literally change your business life overnight, one is to find the right mentor or advisor, and two, following the right system (one that makes your money). Other than that the biggest hurdle to getting started is quite simply the funding required and your own motivational levels.

However one of the greatest things about real estate investing is the fact that you have the greatest amount of leverage compared with many other types of investing or businesses such as stocks and paper assets.

In fact there are many ways to profit from this trend of high foreclosure rates and a generally healthy realty market without having the millions in your bank account to pay on their own. One method is simply to be a bird dog or or someone who finds leads for their client list.

In other words if you have a list of investors who have the cash on hand but not the time to actually identify high-paying properties, then you could potentially profit from this method.

However if you do have some money to at least gain the rights to a foreclosure property you can probably flip it after adding some renovations or applying fixer-uppers to handyman jobs as they're called.

Another often overlooked method of gaining from this industry is to join the other side of the fence as it were. In other words instead of trying to profit from foreclosures you can also try to HELP people get out of foreclosure.

Now there are better ways to go about this. One way to do this is to work with an established institution that is dedicated to helping people get out of the foreclosure and working as an intermediary for them and their lender to workout a plan so that they get to keep their home after a compromise is negotiated.

Each time you to direct a targeted lead to them you can be paid on a per lead basis which can sometimes amount to as much as $1000 or more per successful transaction.

It's a sweet little niche that you might want to consider if you don't want to spend much money or partake in too much risk from the beginning- though there is inherent risk in everything you do that involves an investment in time and your personal resources.

Another benefit of doing things from this angle is that you'll probably find a lot less competition especially in your local market relative to the other side of the fence of traditional real estate investments.

However be forewarned that this method is no longer a big secret anymore and many competitors are entering the market. However it would be somewhat reasonable to say that in general the competition for this method will be a bit less depending on your own market situations- however you will want to just take a look for your particular market or local markets in your area .

Remember it's important to keep an open mind to new opportunities as they arise especially in such a cutthroat industry. such as real estate. Or any business for that matter. Good luck!