Real Estate Foreclosure Heat Map - Great tool for home buyers and investors…
I’ve been buried so deep in getting the new site design up (this is becoming an epic isn’t it? Wow, didn’t expect a simple site redesign to take so damn long!) and in building my other businesses that I’ve neglected YOU hugely! I’m so sorry :-).
Anyhow, no excuses…
Okay, on to some cool stuff.
The other day I came across a site that is pretty darn cool… so cool in fact that I had to get it up here for you to check out and see if you can use it in doing a bit of market research for your own real estate investing business.
The site is called:
The site is several cool features… but the one that I’m most excited about is the “Foreclosure Heat Map” feature that lets you see where the “hottest” areas for foreclosures are right now.
Now, I really don’t know how accurate or up to date HotPads.com is with their Foreclosure Heat Map feature… but either way… it’s a pretty cool and possibly useful tool. Here’s a quick shot of the foreclosure heat map for the entire U.S.
HotPads.com lets you zoom in as far as county and city level foreclosure heat maps… which is pretty cool when you are looking for new areas to possibly start your research on before entering the market.
Is HotPads.com A Great Tool For Real Estate Investors?
Well… really that’s for you to decide. I can see the foreclosure heat map feature being useful when you do your preliminary market research to find potential markets to move into.
Preliminary market research is probably the extent of the usefulness of HotPads.com. Hop on there… check out heat maps in different areas… and use it as a way to find new potential markets.
Other Features On HotPad.com
HotPad.com does have other features that let you find properties pretty easily… and has a “rent vs. buy” tool that helps you see if it’s worth buying or renting in a specific market.
It looks like HotPad is hooked in to the MLS and uses mapping technology to place properties on a map (much like other similar sites). However, with HotPads you can click on the little house icon and look at pictures of the house and other property details.
These other features are cool… but not all that unique. However, the foreclosure heat map feature is worth checking out both for kicks… and for possible preliminary market targeting if you are investing in foreclosures right now.
Check it out and let me know what you think! Also, if you have come across other cool sites like HotPad… shoot it my way through the contact form at the top of the page!
Hey, my name is Trevor and I'm the founder of The REI Brain and a real estate investor since the age of 21. Right now, my focus in real estate investing is multi-family income properties and I have plans on moving more into the commercial real estate investment world in 2008 and beyond. 
This is a great tool for real estate investors. I can’t wait to share it with my clients - esp since we are in Colorado. Looks red hot!
Thanks for posting.
Hey Susan,
Thanks for the comments. Ya, I thought it is a cool little tool to get a quick gauge of things pretty quickly. Let me know how it works for you!
Cheers,
- Trevor
I just tried hotmaps, very cool. I looked at the density of foreclosures per household in some areas and was actually surprised by what I found. Thanks for posting this link!
Hey Naheed,
No prob at all. Ya, there are some VERY surprising foreclosure stats on hotmaps. Great initial tool…. but nothing takes the place of your own due diligence.
Thanks for the comment!
- Trevor