There is no shame in admitting that business idea hypotheses do not work. I have been sitting around since 2007 trying to figure out what opportunities are available. The fact is that economic contractions inherently do not lend themselves to opportunity generation.
The one opportunity you can hope for is out-of-favor assets being sold at substantial discounts. I have used this for personal enrichment, recently buying a luxury car at a remarkable discount. If you buy stocks at “the bottom” you will do well when optimism returns.
Others on this forum have been modestly successful doing foreclosure auction purchases. This is difficult work, as it involves a substantial amount of risk, as the houses are generally purchased almost sight unseen. You will spend a great deal of time doing field work, attempting to gather as much information as possible about the houses before bidding. Often, successful auction investors work in teams – one at the auction, one in an office, and several in the field.
Flipping houses, though, involves substantial inventory risk. The historical perception that there is easy money to be made there comes from inflating asset prices, not from any magical adding of excess value from coats of paint or new flooring. The people doing auction purchases now are well aware that this is likely a transient opportunity.
Regarding your original idea: I applaud your noble intent but have to say you dodged a bullet if you figured out that foreclosed homeowners are people to avoid. Some are earnest and wonderful, but never underestimate the others’ ability to compromise their ethics to serve their own ends, and good luck telling the difference.
