What they say about the rich getting richer is especially true right now. With money to invest you can make a fortune in the foreclosure market. Some investors see the foreclosure crisis as a huge opportunity. Other investors have a little more trouble with the idea of profiting from someone elses misfortune. If you find the idea of making money this way distasteful, there is a way for you to make money with foreclosures and still sleep at night. Here’s how to do that.

Many of the people who lose their homes to a foreclosure are good, honest people who get caught in a bad situation. Foreclosures have happened because people have lost their jobs in our struggling economy, or because of the mess created by subprime interest rates and deflated housing values. As an investor, you didn’t create those problems and you can’t do much to solve them either.

But you would probably like to help. And there may well be a way to do that and profit at the same time. Think about it. As an investor, you are able to buy homes for literally pennies on the dollar. You can own a lot of houses while having very little in capital investment. Here is what you can do to help.

If you purchase a number of homes in a community, you have several options. You can try to dump them in bulk with another investor for a profit. Another option is to let them sit empty until the crisis passes and the housing market starts to rebound, then sell and make your profit. A third option is to rent the houses out.

People who have lost their homes in foreclosure, at some point have to move out. Their options are to rent another place, move in with family or friends, or in a worst case scenario, have nowhere to go. Given these choices, if they could rent a nice home at an affordable price, chances are good that they would jump at the chance.

This could be an ideal situation all around. For you, being able to rent out the houses you’ve bought could help you at least cover expenses and even turn a profit. Even insurance costs will be less because the house is not vacant. Once the economy rebounds, you can sell and make a greater profit.

Think how good it would make you feel to help families have decent places to live at a price they can afford to pay. Why not consider giving your tenants the opportunity to purchase, at a guaranteed price, down the road when their finances improve? Since you only paid pennies on the dollar, you can give them a good deal and still turn a great profit.

By doing this you’ll ensure that you have tenants who will take good care of the place. After all, they may own it one day.

When the day comes that they are in a position to buy and have shown they are responsible by having paid the rent on time, you could hold a private mortgage and they would just continue to pay you. This takes care of any problem they may have getting a mortgage after suffering a foreclosure.

Now if you are reading this and thinking it’s an off the wall idea, think again. There are more than a few investors who are currently doing this.

In an interview, one investor stated that he feels good about what he’s doing because he’s able to help people have a decent place to live. At the same time, he’s making money on the rent and when the time comes he’ll make even more from the sale of the property.

If these investors can do it, why not you? Make money with foreclosures and still sleep at night. What a concept.

Learn more about buying foreclosure properties and get important tips on how to buy foreclosure property and where to find listings.