Starting with Pre-Foreclosures

[Ryan Ohendalski]

Hello,
I am a new investor who is looking to make his first deal. I have been the the Trustee/Tax/Sheriff sales the past 6 months and every property that would be worth investing, gets pulled or the price gets run up too high and the margin gets erased. I will continue to go to these and keep my eyes open for any deals, but I am beginning to think this isnt going to be the best way to get started.
I have now turned my attention to Pre-Foreclosures and I wonder if any of you have advice for me as I start looking seriously at this arena of REI. I have been reading a great deal on the subject, but I wonder what your experiences have been in this sector.
Also, I have seen conversations of the NOD (Notice of Deafault) lists and have seen that some people contact the title companies for this. I have called several companies in the area and they all said they dont have anything like that. They all tried to point me to websites of already listed foreclosures, but I want to deal with the homeowners before the homes are actually foreclosed.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
I am in the Austin area- Williamson County