Looking for a great deal? Foreclosure properties are a definite maybe Average consumers should proceed with caution and knowledge

by Heather Clark

Buying foreclosure properties has long been the domain of savvy and cash-ready real estate investors. But what about the average consumer looking for a place to call home?

More than 900,000 households are in the foreclosure process, up 71 percent from a year ago, according to survey released in March by the Mortgage Bankers Association. California and Florida are hardest hit. By the end of 2007, they accounted for 30 percent of all foreclosure starts in the United States, despite representing only 21 percent of the mortgage market.

With so many homeowners in the process of — or scrambling to avoid — foreclosure, is now the time to scoop up a home at a bargain price?