Foreclosure Investing: How to Help Homeowners and Earn Returns with Cameron Clermont

Cameron Clermont (00:00)
Yeah, I mean, I do have people come to me and say, hey, I have this problem, have this homeowner in this situation. And not just that, mean, someone can reach out to me. This is really the best place to get into if you’re just starting out as an investor, if you’re trying to build yourself as an investor, because number one, there’s several solutions for these homeowners that we can place in. Number two, it’s a low barrier to entry. It’s really easy to find these lists, like I was saying in the beginning.

And it’s so it’s not that expensive to get into. then it’s a fair and also like I’ve learned a lot of sales, sales through this is like being able to educate the homeowner on where you’re at on what you can do to help people. So this is just a very easy conversation with someone cause you’re offering help.

Michelle Kesil (02:17)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Cameron Clermont is a foreclosure specialist, working with homeowners in distressed situations as well as investors. excited to have you here today, Cameron.

Cameron Clermont (02:37)
Absolutely glad to be here.

Michelle Kesil (02:39)
Awesome, let’s dive in. So first off, for those not familiar with you and your work, can you share what your main focus is?

Cameron Clermont (02:47)
Yeah, my main focus is helping a homeowner that’s in foreclosure, helping them get out of a distressed situation. Sometimes just financially they need some help and they can’t get ⁓ something conventional like conventional loan. So we have private individuals and private companies that can help with funding or ⁓ doing a creative structure to help a homeowner get out of a stressful situation.

Michelle Kesil (03:08)
And which markets do you operate in?

Cameron Clermont (03:12)
We’re really nationwide. mean, we’re really open to wherever an investor is willing to go into and then we can go to those markets and find the people who need the help.

Michelle Kesil (03:21)
Awesome, and how did you get into this?

Cameron Clermont (03:24)
That’s a long story. think we only have about 20, 30 minutes here, so I’ll try to keep it short. I started off as a physical therapist assistant, people ⁓ learn how to walk again after strokes and stuff like that. While I was doing that, learned about real estate through, primarily, ⁓ my good friend and mentor, Dave Visco. He had bought a 12-year apartment building. said, that’d be great if I could get into real estate.

real

estate, got a mentor who then showed me like fix and flips, wholesale, and all these different creative structures which was great. And I really created a really good lead generation process and did a really good job of just the way I am. really good at building trust and connecting with people really quickly. while I was doing this, I was talking to people in foreclosure and they’re $20,000 behind their hardships reserve is

is over and now and they have 150 in equity and the mortgage company is not working with them and the only option that they had was to sell. So we came up with the solution of having an investor that would instead of buying the property, they help with either lending or another creative structure to pay off that reinstatement, stop the foreclosure and help that homeowner stay in their home.

Michelle Kesil (04:44)
Awesome. And so how do you find these distressed homeowners or situations? Where do you get these leads?

Cameron Clermont (04:50)
Absolutely,

yes. So, I mean, it’s…

Foreclosures are their public record. So going to any county site, you can find these foreclosure records and go from there. I mean, there’s other platforms that you can use to make it a little more streamlined, but it’s gonna cost money to do that. But the most accurate data is just going straight to the county records, pulling them and going from there.

Michelle Kesil (05:20)
Yeah, so what does the process look like? You go into the county records and then you contact

Cameron Clermont (06:13)
you like to would can skip trace the property. You definitely want to do your research on the property, make sure there’s enough equity that you’re able to help. You’re reaching out to the right people who you actually can help. And then, yeah, that’s really it. You find the property address, you figure out what the what the situation is, what the equity is. ⁓ And then then usually a mailer or reaching out and usually mailers, the best way to reach out to get connected with these homeowners.

Michelle Kesil (06:41)
And then how does that in turn into investment?

Cameron Clermont (06:46)
Absolutely, yes. So when they, ⁓ so they’ll call in, I’ll go through my process with them, get the information that we, that I would need to figure out what options are going to fit for them. And then I would go to buy contacts of, of investors and, and, and private, private money and figure out what’s going to work for both. What’s going to help the homeowner stay in the home for, and as well as get this investor a return on their money, a secured investment in a real estate property.

Michelle Kesil (07:14)
And what have been some of the main keys that have allowed your business to grow and run successfully?

Cameron Clermont (07:21)
it’s

absolutely having a service oriented business, really focusing on the service of helping someone who’s in need and finding a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Michelle Kesil (07:32)
And so where do you find the investors that you’re going to work with?

Cameron Clermont (07:36)
I mean, there’s several different groups out there of just real estate investors. I mean, and it really could be anyone. Anyone can become an investor with me. ⁓ I mean, for instance, I have a property in Pensacola right now. They need under $10,000 to stop their foreclosure. And I mean, any person could be a private investor with me and then they get a double digit return while helping a homeowner keep and stay in their home. it’s, mean, anyone could become that, but it’s really been.

and then through all the connections that I’ve had ⁓ through like a sub sub two. like a paste Morbys group or some of the other mentors I have. there’s a lot of other groups out there of investors just looking to do deals.

Michelle Kesil (08:19)
awesome, and what have been some of the obstacles or challenges that you’ve had to overcome in this role.

Cameron Clermont (08:28)
Yeah,

the main obstacle is really just having consistent capital because I’ve brought in over 250 deals that have closed. It’s just having capital for the next deal has been the thing. So we’re always looking for more investors in this situation.

Michelle Kesil (08:44)
And how do you typically raise capital?

Cameron Clermont (08:47)
Raising capital is, I mean, it’s just reaching out. It’s reaching out to these investment groups and saying, hey, this is the deals that we have. This is what we do. Building good relationships with quality people who are also looking to help and that have a, I, that like the mission that we’re on and that working together with them.

Michelle Kesil (09:06)
Yeah, what other creative financing solutions do you usually work with?

Cameron Clermont (09:10)
A lot of ⁓ things based around subject too, because when it comes to foreclosure, there’s a reinstatement amount. That’s the amount that needs to get paid to the mortgage to stop the foreclosure. So ⁓ a lot of times ⁓ it’s a smaller investment upfront to start with that is paying that reinstatement amount. ⁓ And then eventually we come back for ⁓ that full mortgage with a DSCR loan or… ⁓

or a heat lock or something along those lines so that way we can pay off the full mortgage if that’s the way it goes if it ends up being a purchase and sometimes we’ll do a purchase with a rent with our like a lease back so that homeowner gets to stay there continue to rent and they have the option to buy that house back at the end of the year so that’s an also another way that sometimes ⁓ those loans get paid off.

Michelle Kesil (09:58)
And is this usually the homeowners and investors are in the same region or how does that work?

Cameron Clermont (10:05)
I mean, it can really be anywhere. I mean, lot of investors that we’ve had are not even in the United States. So, I mean, some people really want to just invest in their niche area, like they just want to be in their home base. But then some investors are absolutely willing to go be in Massachusetts to invest in Florida or anywhere or anything like that. So you don’t have to be in the same area for this to work.

Michelle Kesil (10:31)
And so what are you most focused on solving or scaling to next?

Cameron Clermont (10:36)
Right now it’s really just growing Real Prop Help. Growing real prop helps so that way we have consistent capital, consistent funding for ⁓ these homeowners. So can help these homeowners grow and stay in their home while we’re helping an investor get a return on their funds as well.

Michelle Kesil (10:57)
And are there any criteria for the type of investors that you partner with?

Cameron Clermont (11:37)
Yeah, I mean, we’re always looking for the investors. We’re definitely looking for someone who likes the idea of being able to help someone out, who knows that what they’re doing is doing something good for someone as well. ⁓ So they’re not just looking for that return. ⁓ I mean, it could really be any investor, but anyone who knows that and wants to help someone else out with, they’ve had good fortune in life, they have the ability to invest, and now they can

And now they can help a homeowner stay in their home while they’re growing their wealth.

Michelle Kesil (12:11)
and what have been some of the lessons that you’ve learned through this position.

Cameron Clermont (12:18)
That’s a good question. ⁓

I would say ⁓ one of the big lessons I’ve learned is that ⁓ for number one on the homeowner side is just they have to be careful because there’s a lot of other companies that are going to reach out to you when you’re in foreclosure and they might have a good pitch and they sound nice and all this other stuff but they’re just trying to take the house so they’re just going to wait to the last minute and then have you sell the house and it’s not fair. ⁓

And on top of that, ⁓ lot of companies will say, we can help you out by doing a loan modification or this or that. And all you need to do is pay upfront and then pay us X amount per month. And then ⁓ we’ll help you stop the foreclosure. at any point.

If any homeowners that are listening to this, if anyone’s reaching out to you saying, hey, pay us upfront, don’t do it. It’s not the way to go. In any of these situations, you really should not be paying anything upfront before the foreclosure is canceled. That’s a really good possibility of getting scammed. And even if it’s a company that can actually help, they’re actually not a scamming company, anything can go wrong and now you’re out of money. And then if they didn’t help you out, you could then be out of your

So that’s one thing to look out for. That’s one big thing I’ve learned. ⁓ Another thing I’ve learned is it’s really just the process that I have of gathering the information, building a relationship with a homeowner really quickly so that way I can figure out how best to help them. ⁓ And then, I mean, I’m always learning and growing, so I’m looking forward to continue to grow from where I’m at.

Michelle Kesil (14:01)
Awesome. And what are you looking for or excited about as far as any opportunities or goals for this year?

Cameron Clermont (14:11)
Yeah, absolutely. I’m definitely looking for real prep help to grow here and grow in ⁓ what our options are so we can have more investors on.

on our side that can now do several different options with homeowners. To this point, our primary solution has been what we call our emergency reinstatement loan, where a private lender comes in, helps reinstate the mortgage or pay off the taxes, and then they hold a second mortgage or a first mortgage on the property. I’d really love to have more investors coming in that we can do more creative structures and just help more homeowners across the board.

I mean, year we’ve done over 100 homes that we’ve helped save. It’d be great to double that, able to do 200 this year.

Michelle Kesil (14:56)
Awesome. And is it mostly you finding these foreclosure homes or do people also seek you out?

Cameron Clermont (15:46)
Yeah, I mean, I do have people come to me and say, hey, I have this problem, have this homeowner in this situation. And not just that, mean, someone can reach out to me. This is really the best place to get into if you’re just starting out as an investor, if you’re trying to build yourself as an investor, because number one, there’s several solutions for these homeowners that we can place in. Number two, it’s a low barrier to entry. It’s really easy to find these lists, like I was saying in the beginning.

And it’s so it’s not that expensive to get into. then it’s a fair and also like I’ve learned a lot of sales, sales through this is like being able to educate the homeowner on where you’re at on what you can do to help people. So this is just a very easy conversation with someone cause you’re offering help. Cause you’re coming in to offer help in their situation. Cause 90 % of these homeowners that are in foreclosure, they want to keep their home. They want to stay there.

So if you’re able to come in with that solution and be able to talk to them about that, then it’s an easy barrier to entering because now you’re helping a homeowner to have an easy conversation. And then you can still get, you can still start building your business in real estate. So ⁓ anyone new to investing, absolutely encourage you to come reach out to me. I’ll absolutely show you how to reach out to these people. Get your, get the information that we need so that we can help them and that we can help you grow and earn.

and earn some income. So I look forward to doing that. So this is a good spot for any new investor.

Michelle Kesil (17:15)
Absolutely. And is this something that you have a team that works with you or is it simply just you?

Cameron Clermont (17:21)
Yeah, I’ve had, I have a team. really have. ⁓ I have two really great VAs that have been so loyal and they work very well. They work very quickly. They do a great job. I have two VAs and then in and out I’ve had, I’ve had other people that work for me ⁓ that like with answering calls or helping out with contracts. ⁓ So ⁓ yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s really the team right now is me my two VAs. They’re fantastic.

⁓ And then obviously ⁓ anyone who I work with as an investor, I consider part of the team because I mean, I like building a great relationship with who I’m working with.

Michelle Kesil (17:57)
Yeah, amazing. So what do you see in as far as the industry shifting? you still feel like foreclosures are going to be really prominent or do like, yeah, how do you see the real estate market shifting in that lens?

Cameron Clermont (18:11)
I

Absolutely. So I think foreclosure leads are going to be the highest and the best solution. think, and that, like I was saying earlier, it’s also one of the best ways to get in as an investor because they’re, they’re so prevalent. There’s so many of them going on. I could see this growing. Like for instance, in 2024, I think the average per month was about 24,000 a month across the nation foreclosures. And then last year, 2025, it was about 34,000. So there was a big increase.

per month foreclosures and I’m still seeing that happening. ⁓ These foreclosures continue to go up. ⁓ yeah, I think this is definitely the space to get into ⁓ because the opportunities are there. There’s so many people who need this help and it’s, so yeah, I definitely see this as a growing part that’s not going away.

Michelle Kesil (19:05)
Definitely. Thank you so much for sharing. Well, before we begin to wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect and learn more about what you’re up to, where can people find you and connect with you?

Cameron Clermont (19:07)
You got it?

Absolutely. Yeah, you can you can email me at [email protected] You can also call in you call me at five six one eight two one four seven two one ⁓ Or you can reach I also have a Facebook page My Facebook page is just Real Prop Help I go on there look up Real Prop Help and you can see what I’m doing Stay up to date

Michelle Kesil (19:39)
We’ll appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

Cameron Clermont (19:44)
Yeah,

thanks, Michelle. Appreciate the opportunity.

Michelle Kesil (19:46)
And for those tuning into the show, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Cameron who are building real businesses. We’ll see you on our next episode.

Cameron Clermont (19:59)
Awesome.