If you're wondering how to find money held by the state, you're probably considering getting involved in the "found money" business. Becoming a money finder is fairly easy, and using a few legal loopholes, you can make some nice income reconnecting people with their lost funds.

Due to a very-little-known loophole, you can still go after unclaimed property to which the abandoned property laws don't apply, and charge 30-50% for your information and assistance.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, the current economy is rife with "found money," precisely because things are so bad. Smart real estate investors are becoming "found money pros," left and right. You can become one of them.

If you're considering becoming a money finder (if you're not, you should be) you may be looking for lost money in all the wrong places. State unclaimed funds are where many money finders start, and there are two big reasons to steer clear of these funds and focus elsewhere.

Here are a two simple ways you can make a lot of easy money from the foreclosure process, without competition, and with less than $1000 in operating capital.

Of all the ways you can go about property investment buying, one field beats all the rest: tax foreclosures. Tax properties that makes it all the way to, and through, the tax sale, all have one thing in common: they don't have a mortgage. Yep. Free and clear, and that's what you want to go after when buying property.

One of the best ways to invest is by purchasing tax lien homes... but probably not the way you'd expect.

The current economic climate is creating a lot of government-held money; money finders find unclaimed funds like these, find their owners, and reconnect the two for a 40-50% finder's fee.

There's a way to make money from the mortgage foreclosure sale that doesn't involve owning any property and that almost no one knows about.

The best way to invest in tax foreclosure property is to carefully select the right properties, and then seek out the tax delinquent owners and offer to purchase directly from them.