For Rebound Renters, a Few Things to Remember

If the area is filled with foreclosures, then you will need someone on your investment team to help you track how much these properties are selling for and how long the timetable for those foreclosure sales is.

Once you start to visit these properties, look at the sales data and pull some rental information, you will know whether these properties will meet your investment needs.

In general, I can tell you that if you don't mind being a landlord, and you have the cash and available credit to purchase properties, it's starting to be an excellent time to buy. There have been twice as many foreclosures this year as last, and if this pace continues, more than 1 million properties will fall into foreclosure in 2008.

Lenders have started to unload some of these properties at advantageous prices, which usually bodes well as a long-term hold. The big-time residential property investors I know are buying up good properties for good prices.

As far as renting out these properties goes, it's tough to command a high price at the moment. But if you can afford to carry them through the tough times, I think you'll enjoy long-term appreciation. Also, as fewer people can afford to buy, they'll look to rent, and landlords will once again prosper.

As a general rule, some real estate investments are better than others. In some areas, you may be able to buy single-family houses but may not find a market for buyers or renters. You need to gauge the market conditions to see whether people are interested in rentals in a particular area and what those conditions are. If you buy a single-family house in an area with many foreclosures and vacancies and few rentals, you may not be able to rent the home even if you buy it at a low price.

I wouldn't plan on making a killing in the short run. It's about what you feel you can comfortably carry for the next few years.

My husband and I are retired, and we have gotten into an insurmountable amount of debt. We are just about maxed out on all our credit cards and are borrowing from one of them to pay another one. I don't know what is going to happen to us if we can't get some relief.

Recently we have been receiving several telephone calls each week saying that there is a program that the federal government is supporting that can help people in debt to recover by lowering mortgage interest rates and cutting their payments. The government gets a fee for doing this.

We need this or something like it desperately, but before we talk to one of their analysts, I need to know how to check if these calls are legitimate. We do not want to give all our credit and personal information to someone who is running a scam.

I'm sorry for your financial troubles, but this sounds like a total scam. It sounds to me like you need some time with the folks at a nonprofit such as Consumer Credit Counseling Services (www.cccsatl.org). They will be able to tell you if your debt is insurmountable or just enormous (but can be paid off). They are also certified housing counselors, so they can help you figure out what programs might be able to offer some relief.

You might also get help by finding a certified housing counselor through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Web site (www.hud.gov) or by calling 888-995-HOPE.