With mortgage foreclosures rising to historic levels, many home buyers see foreclosure auctions as a smart way to enter overpriced markets.

There are in fact bargains to be had -- if you're willing to do a lot of homework and are financially secure enough to handle unexpected problems. Here's what to look for when shopping for a home in foreclosure.

Know what's available. Check out the registry of impending foreclosure sales, usually found at your local county courthouse. These subscription-based foreclosure tip sheets typically are published by third parties who sell them to Realtors and investors, so you'll find out when the pros do that a desirable property is heading for auction. There's a charge for the registry, typically $150 to $400 a year.

Home buyers often are surprised to learn that they typically won't have the opportunity to inspect the interior of the house before they bid on it. Here's how the pros try to assess how much the home is worth:

Check tax assessment. Head to town hall and ask to get a copy of the tax assessor's file on the foreclosed property. The file will include information such as the size of the lot, square footage of the home, the number of bedrooms and baths and the amount of taxes paid each year.

Ask your Realtor for comparable sales in the area. Experts agree that foreclosed homes sold at 70% to 75% of comparable homes in the neighborhood are a good value, so use this information to get an idea of how much is too much to pay at auction.

Get a title search. Spend the $250 to $500 typically charged to have a professional title-search service give you the lowdown on every claim currently held against the property. Any outstanding liens on the property will become your responsibility after you've bought the home, so you'll want to know what your liability will be and factor it into your cost. Taking all this into account, decide how much you'd be willing to pay.

Remember to set aside an additional 10% of the house's value to give yourself a cushion in case an unwelcome surprise awaits inside the home. With number in hand, contact your lender to ensure that you will able to close on the mortgage within 30 days or less of the auction, typically the amount of time buyers are allowed to complete the sale.

Prepare for the big day. It's amazing in the age of the Internet that foreclosure auctions still take place on the steps of local courthouses, with age-old open-cry bidding, but they do. Don't be surprised to find yourself up against the lender holding the mortgage on the property. Other bidders will include cash buyers, something you’ll have a hard time competing with.

All the lender's representative has to do is present the mortgage agreement, and if no one bids MORE than the outstanding mortgage balance, the lender will get the property. But in many cases, the home will be worth more on the open market than the existing balance of the mortgage, so it's worth it to try your luck.

And finally, don't let yourself get caught up in the bidding. If the auction bids rise above your desired price, walk away before you end up bidding more than you intended.

When you're ready to search for a home, visit www.OpenHouseCafe.info