In this week’s Your Money column, we explore what consumers need to know before buying a distressed property — specifically, bank-owned homes and short sales, where a bank agrees to sell a house for less than is owed on the mortgage.

More of these homes will become available in the year ahead. Four million properties will receive foreclosure notices in 2010, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing service. And about one million homes will be repossessed by the banks and mortgage finance companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Of those, up to 500,000 will probably be listed for sale next year, estimates Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

Full story is available on The New York Times