The vast majority of foreclosure auction investors pick up one to a handful of units a year at most, then either rent them out or fix them up for eventual resale. Typically they also troll for distress situations, pre-foreclosures and "ugly" houses.

But John Helmick, CEO of fast-growing Gorilla Capital in Eugene, Oregon, takes a very different, high-volume approach that can be summarized in five points:

1. Buy big -- 150 or more foreclosures a year - but only by cherry-picking houses that have maximum potential for immediate turnaround and sale to retail home buyers or investors within about 60 days.

2. Have dedicated crews of contractors ready to go at all times to paint, lay new flooring, and repair whatever's broken. Fix up costs should not exceed $5,000 to $15,000.

3. Provide seller financing to retail or investor buyers if that enables them to close on units within the target turnaround time.

4. Be the proverbial "800 pound gorilla" in select target marketplaces - dominating foreclosure auctions, tracking new filings, and understanding local demand dynamics and price trends in depth. Dense urban markets can be tough environments in which to be the dominant player -- so look for outlying, lower-populatin counties where you can buy most of the foreclosed units that fit your investment criteria.

5. Specialize in foreclosures only. Never stray and go after pre-foreclosures or short-sale situations. They're too much hassle…and you don't get the rock-bottom prices that you can obtain at auctions.

Helmick started Gorilla Capital in 2005 following the multi-million dollar sale of an earlier business venture. Since then, the firm has positioned itself as Oregon's foreclosure mega-player - buying up houses at low costs and reselling them at price points approximately 10 percent below actual retail, to move them out quickly.

Gorilla Capital focuses primarily on 15 counties in Oregon, but has recently begun to expand into other high-potential areas, such as Arizona. The company is not after massive, quick profits, Helmick told Realty Times in an interview last week, but instead seeks to churn out consistent, steady gross profits of around 9 percent after paying real estate commissions and other expenses.

Most of Gorilla's houses sell fast -- anywhere from 72 hours to 10 days. Median holding time from acquisition to re-marketing: just 58 days, according to Helmick.

Bottom line here: Carve out your own specialized investment niche. Target only markets you truly understand. Then stick with the program to achieve a highly-disciplined path to profits.

Published: May 29, 2009

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Kenneth R. Harney writes an award-winning, nationally-syndicated column on housing and real estate from Washington, D.C. He is also managing director of the National Real Estate Development Center, a professional education company. He is a past member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, a committee that by federal statute reviews all Fed actions on home mortgage, consmer credit and banking industry regulation. He served as a member of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Working Group on Computerized Loan Origination (CLO) systems, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Fannie Mae Foundation's journal, Housing Policy Debate. He is the author of two books on mortgage finance and real estate.