It's no surprise that buyers are looking for a bargain but now even more people are gaining interest in the growing foreclosure market. According to Trulia.com and RealtyTrac, a recent survey shows that 55 percent of U.S. adults are at least somewhat likely to consider a foreclosed home when buying real estate. That's a nearly 10 percent increase from November 2008.

However, many buyers are a bit leery of foreclosures because approximately 85 percent said they can't identify negative aspects of the properties. That figure also rose by 5 percent from the last quarter of 2008. Among the top concerns are hidden costs, a risky process, and further de-valuing of the foreclosed property. Buying a foreclosure doesn't have to be a scary and unknown process if you take the right precautions. Inspect before you buy is a good motto for any real estate transaction but even more so with a home that has been foreclosed and possibly sitting vacant for long periods of time.

"A lot of the foreclosures that I have inspected have had fires, usually due to the heating equipment. And it's predominantly because somebody just wasn't taking care of the equipment—not because they were trying to set the house on fire because they were upset—it's just poor maintenance," says Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, a home inspector based in Houston, Texas.

He says the trouble with foreclosures is what happens to the homes during the foreclosure process. "People who are getting into the point where they're going toward foreclosure usually don't have money for maintenance," says Schulte-Ladbeck. Consequently, sometimes important housing needs are let go or, potentially worse, the former homeowners unsuccessfully attempt to do their own repairs.

"You see weird plumbing or wiring set-ups that can sometimes really cause a problem down the road, like with the electrical system causing fires or the plumbing causing leaks," says Schulte-Ladbeck.

Another big concern is when the previous homeowners used various items in the home as replacement for something that had broken. Schulte-Ladbeck says because homeowners who are facing foreclosure frequently cannot afford to fix something in the home, they go without it but that can cause more problems. "I saw one foreclosure home, that didn't have any heating so they were using their fireplace but they weren't using the fireplace correctly—they had closed the damper and it was allowing the smoke to get into the room. So there was all this smoke damage inside." How about that terrible smell? Many buyers think it's only due to mold. But Schulte-Ladbeck says it could be a different cause as was the case with a townhouse he recently inspected. "The water out of the bathrooms had drained out the P-Traps the pipe that is under sinks and contains water so you started getting a really awful sewage smell in the house. A lot of people associate that with mold but it's actually the P-Trap which prevents the noxious sewer gas from backing up into your house. When a foreclosed home is sitting for six months or a year, that water will dry up. So then you need to pour water back into that drain to clear away the smell," says Schulte-Ladbeck.

The best thing you can do if you're considering a foreclosure is to have it inspected. Just make sure that the property is ready to be inspected or you could be doing yourself a huge disservice. "The one thing that I really suggest to buyers is that a lot of times they have me go in and inspect the foreclosure when it's still winterized which means that all the power is off, the gas has been turned off, and the water has been turned off. But there's just no real way to properly check the home to see if something has gone wrong without those things being on." "Have everything turned on because that's when you might start seeing things that are wrong like leaks and electrical problems. You could see problems with the heater or the water heater, ovens or cook tops that use natural gas," says Schulte-Ladbeck.

Seeing is believing and, with inspections, the only way to know for sure is to have everything operating in order to gain the most knowledge about what things will need repairing.