I have been contemplating real estate investing for about seven years, and now I'm finally ready to get into this whole heartedly. I've become educated about the whole business thing and the whole real estate thing and all the money to be made in real estate. My initial hesitation was because I didn't, and still don't, want to be viewed as a money hungry vulture because that's not who I am. Now, don't get me wrong, I know the power of the mighty dollar. But life has to be more fulfilling for me then just money. I mean, I do want to contribute to the world more than take away from it. Hence, my coming to peace with real estate investing: as long as I can help a distressed homeowner, I'm cool with it, and, yes, the money will follow. But helping a distressed homeowner out of a sticky situation is my priority. Therfore, my focus is on homeowners who are two months behind on their mortgage, going into their third month, and have been served with a pre-foreclosure notice by the bank. The homeowner must accept my services, as time is of the essence at this stage. And not only will the homeowner save him or herself from having a foreclosure on their credit report for the next 7-10 years (practically financial suicide), they may even be able to walk away with a little extra cash in their pocket so they can start all over. Every situation is different and it's important for me to learn the homeowner's situation so that I can diagnose it to solve the problem, the same way a doctor or lawyer would diagnose a patient/client. Need to know the problem so I can fix it. There's no such thing as a problem that can't be solved. Also, other distressed homeowner situations include: divorce, death/estate sale, job loss, and relocation.