There are more foreclosures in the United States right now than we have ever experienced before. However, opportunistic real estate investment professionals are turning the recession into great profits with a bit of creativity.

This new opportunity – known as ‘Bulk REO Investing’ – is so huge it’s captured attention from wealthy investors and private investment funds alike.

Let’s take a moment to analyze the basics of this incredibly lucrative business.

Understanding of the foreclosure process is central to understanding Bulk REO investing.

As a home owner misses a payment or two, the lender sends the predictable barage of threatening letters and warnings. After a certain period, the lender will then formally begin foreclosure proceedings. The ‘pre-foreclosure’ time starts with filing of foreclosure paperwork and concludes at public auction.

To complete the foreclosure process, the property is auction to the public. Ownership of the property is returned to the lender if the property is not sold at auction. This property is then considered to be ‘Real Estate Owned’ by the lender, also known as an ‘REO’ property.

Local real estate agents are usually used to resale REO properties at retail price to the general public. But as a consequence of the weak economy, lenders are frequently selling their REO properties far below their actual value. But the price of receiving such great pricing is the need to purchase multiple REO properties (a ‘package’) rather than individual properties.

Qualified real estate investors are increasingly finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in these REO packages. REO packages are easiest to buy and sell with a well regarded source of financing in place. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Buscemi of Dandrew Capital Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.