BOSTON -- Almost everyday someone falls in the cycle of foreclosure. According to Foreclosures Mass.com, foreclosures are up 76 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Team 5 Investigates' Sean Kelly reported Wednesday that foreclosure properties can generate big money. They buy houses below market, and then flip them at a higher price.

Every day, foreclosure opportunities sprout like weeds for investors like Derek Ebrecht. Lately 100 properties a day, thousands each month, enter the foreclosure process in Massachusetts alone.

"A lot of these people are behind the 8-ball and they need to figure out a way to get out," said Ebrecht. "That's one of the things we try to do, is show them ways to get out."

Dozens of Web sites link investors right to their doorsteps. Ebrecht said his business began when he just knocked on a door one day. After a few visits with the homeowner, he made a deal to buy the house.

As soon as the foreclosure process begins, the address, size and value of the property gets posted. All of it is public. Sometimes investors come calling before homeowners even know they're in trouble.

"The average person's response is, 'I'm all set.'" said Ebrecht. "Other times people aren't happy and that's to be expected."

Pre-foreclosures are the most desirable properties because you can buy them directly from the homeowner, rather than through the banks or at auction.

Team 5 Investigates found Web sites that coach investors to strike early. Realty Trac.com gets 5 million visitors each month. According to its Web site, "Approaching a homeowner at this stage of default represents a tremendous opportunity to make money in the real estate market because he or she is motivated to sell before losing the house to foreclosure."

"The investor is probably going to low ball a little bit," said Shelia Farragher-Gemma, co-founder of ForeclosuresMass.com. "The time to get things done is early in the process and that's why investors are more aggressive in trying to get in touch with the customer."

RealtyTrac also shows what cycle the property is in the foreclosure process. That helps investors make their pitch while the getting is good. They're coached to knock on doors, and send direct mail. The practice leaves some critics to wonder whether theses investors are preying on the vulnerable, and harassing them. But those in the business disagree.

"Think of it from the homeowner's point of view," said Farragher-Gemma. "If they were to not sell or refinance, what's going to happen? You can call it bottom feeding, but I think it's doing a service."

Ebrecht agrees.

"There are more people needing these types of services," he said. "So there probably needs to be more people that are really there to help people out."

For the many homeowners who face bankruptcy, ruined credit, and losing their homes, these investors can be a life raft. But with such immediate and easy access to thousands in financial distress, critics warn against a rush to peoples' doorsteps.

"I think if we want to prevent people from being harassed we should have ordinances about not harassing people," said professor Judith Perrolle, an Internet privacy expert at Northeastern University in Boston. "But you shouldn't try to make information not available to the public."

Investing in pre-foreclosures is a multi billion-dollar-a-year business. Even Donald Trump is cashing in by coaching investors on what he calls a real estate goldmine.