West Virginia foreclosures are great options for buying a house at much less than market value. You need to find the best foreclosure listings in your area, the key being that you get to it before anyone else does. Spend some time doing your homework and checking the listings frequently if you want to find a property in a specific location or one that meets your list of criteria for the property you want to buy.

Find even better deals with homes in pre-foreclosure status. Look for listings through county clerk's offices, local real estate agents, bank or on WV foreclosure listings that list properties in or near foreclosure.

1. Sift through bank or government owned listings for deals you may not expect. While they tend to be the higher priced foreclosure listings, you may be able to find a property at a good price.

2. Look for West Virginia foreclosure listings at the courthouse before they list nationally.

3. Don’t get too excited about a property until you’re able to actually see it.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Search online for foreclosed property in WV

Find a good online foreclosure listing website by first looking at what the company offers. The better foreclosure listings will include property values, sales data, loan information, local property comparisons, mapping features, photographs and e-mail notification of future foreclosures in the area where you are interested in owning property.

I recommend: Search the free database of foreclosure listings from RealtyTrac, or sign up for a free 7-day trial membership that will give you access to in depth foreclosure information and daily email alerts. Get up-to-date foreclosure listings from Foreclosure Data including foreclosures, pre-foreclosures and government-owned HUD homes.

Get a house foreclosure in West Virginia first, before anyone else finds it

Find out about foreclosure listings before everyone else by keeping tabs on listings at your local courthouse. Look for auction listings of homes in foreclosure, or better yet, find listings for homes in pre-foreclosure. The earlier you find a property in the foreclosure process, the better deal you'll get.

I recommend: Start by looking for WV foreclosures at the earliest source possible, the County Clerk's Office, then access pre-foreclosure listings online at Preforeclosurealerts.com. The website will send you email updates when new listings appear in your area of interest.

Find bank or government-owned West Virginia foreclosure listings

Bank, government-owned and real estate owned (REO) foreclosures may not save you as much, but if you find the right listing, you can get a property in the ideal location for a lot less than one that isn't in foreclosure. West Virginia listings that include all types of properties are the ideal place to compare foreclosures.

I recommend: Search through all types of foreclosures, including government-owned foreclosures listed at USAHUD.Com, or look through the US HUD official foreclosure listings for West Virginia at HMB, Inc.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Look for free foreclosures in WV on the web, but be aware that these free listings are usually pretty general and require you to do all the leg work when it comes to comparing the average price of homes in the area, lien data, property values and more. Listings are also usually pretty outdated.