: Search the county recorder's office for a Lis Pendens (notice of pending legal action), which signifies the lender has officially started the foreclosure process.

: New York law requires lenders to send a notice to homeowners at least 90 days before filing a lawsuit. These are often recorded in public databases.

Since these homes are not yet listed on the open market, you must "hunt" for them using public records:

: Real estate wholesalers and local attorneys often have access to lists of distressed properties before they become public.

In a pre-foreclosure, you are often buying the property "as-is" and may inherit the owner's financial mess.

: Use sites like Zillow , Mashvisor , or Foreclosure.com to find aggregated pre-foreclosure data. 2. Conduct Deep Due Diligence