The weakness of the U.S. economy has given rise to the largest epidemic of foreclosures in American history. However, opportunistic real estate investment professionals are turning the recession into great profits with a bit of creativity.

This new opportunity - known as 'Bulk REO Investing' - is so huge it's captured attention from wealthy investors and private investment funds alike.

Foreclosures are at the heart of the Bulk REO business, so let's consider the foreclosure process.

You can't understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.

A home owner who misses one or more mortgage payments is faced with an ever-increasing volume of threatening correspondence from their lender. The official foreclosure proceedings begin subsequently, as directed by the lender. 'Pre foreclosure' is the name given to the time between implementation of the foreclosure proceedings and the public auction.

Foreclosure is completed when the property is put up for auction. The lender regains ownership of the property if there are no buyers at auction. The property then receives the designation of being an 'REO' or the more formal name, 'Real Estate Owned'.

Lenders usually try to unload their REO properties at close to retail price by listing their REO's with a real estate broker. Yet with increasing frequency, REO properties are being sold for pennies or dimes on the dollar. This happens because the buyer of the REO is required to purchase multiple REO's in a single transaction.

The REO investment packages available today have provided a way to profitably capitalize on the U.S. recession. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Bushemi of Dandrew Partners, a hedge fund in New York.