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WARNING: Foreclosure can be hazardous to your health.

Possible side effects include, but are not limited to:

• Heart palpitations
• Anxiety attacks
• High blood pressure
• Stress
• Depression
• Weight gain
• Canker sores
• Skin problems
• Acid reflux
• Insomnia

The Alameda County Public Health Department and Causa Justa/Just Cause — a housing rights group — recently conducted a study of nearly 400 residents in the Oakland, Calif., area who had to endure the foreclosure experience.

Here’s the bottom line finding:

Foreclosures exacerbate the health problems [of distressed homeowners]. In addition, the deleterious health effects can often spread to tenants and others associated with foreclosed home.

The San Francisco Chronicle provides powerful context:

The survey found that residents who are going through foreclosure or recently lost their homes were more than twice as likely to say that their mental and physical health had worsened over the past two years than those not going through foreclosure. Those residents were also twice as likely to report stress, depression or anxiety over the past month.

To read the full report, which is entitled “Rebuilding Neighborhoods, Restoring Health” click here.

“Program returns for 2010 after wildly successful 2009 campaign financially assisted several bright scholars from throughout the nation!”

Boca Raton, Fla. — Sept. 2, 2010 — Foreclosure.com today announced that it will reward five more college students with scholarships who can best provide a solution(s) to one of the most troubling issues facing our nation today:

“How could education at the high school level help avert and/or minimize a future foreclosure crisis?”

Foreclosure.com, which received thousands of entries from students during its inaugural scholarship program last year, will accept written essays/plans (800-word minimum, 2,000-word maximum) through its website from Sept. 1, 2010, to Dec. 1, 2010.

Five winners will be selected at the conclusion of the contest and will share $9,000 in allotted scholarship funds. The top prize is a $5,000 scholarship and four $1,000 grants will be awarded to the runners up.

All students must read and agree to the scholarship rules, which are located on the Foreclosure.com contest page at www.foreclosure.com/scholarship.

“Education equals freedom,” said Foreclosure.com Director of Education, Linda Yates. “Often we don’t know what we don’t know – where do the roots of the foreclosure problem really lie? How far back can we trace it? These are important questions. So we are eager to get answers, which is the reason we are excited to review this year’s submissions on how the future generation of homebuyers will be able to make smart financial decisions.”

In addition to the cash prizes (5) in the form of scholarships, winning submissions will also be published on Foreclosure.com.

For complete details and submission requirements/instructions for the Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program visit www.foreclosure.com/scholarship.

Add Alexis Bellino and her husband, Jim, to the growing list of cast members from “The Real Housewives” series who can no longer afford to live in their luxury homes.

The Orange County Register reports that the couple was more than $83,000 behind on the mortgage for their “stately” $4.6 million five-bedroom, five-bathroom abode in Newport Beach, California.

But before it could be auctioned off at a foreclosure sale, which was scheduled for Aug. 25, 2010, the Bellino’s came to an agreement with their lender to reduce the principal through a loan modification.

No specific terms of the modified mortgage are available at this time. However, it appears to be a fair deal, if Jim’s comments are any indicator, that is:

“Chase Bank has been great to work with on my modification. The trustee sale has been canceled, and the modification has been agreed upon.”

Alexis and Jim have three children together, all of whom plan to live in the newly loan-modified home “for an extended period of time.”

This of course is not the first time that a couple from “The Real Housewives” has had to face the possibility of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Jeana Keough avoided foreclosure through a loan modification, Tamra Barney was able to unload her upside-down home via a short sale and Teresa Guidice recently filed for bankruptcy.

To read all about these lovely ladies, as well as other celebrity types, and their real estate-related issues click here.

• Attention agents: Aug. 2010 agent newsletter called, "Working with buyers" is now ready! It's free — http://ffs.cc/a/9ci4xx TM #
• More than 30 Keller Williams real estate agents get short sale certified through "The Agent University" http://ffs.cc/a/vcaplu TM #

Even the rich and famous are not immune to financial hardship. To check out luxury foreclosures in and around the Los Angeles, Calif., area click here.

What you see isn’t always what you get … especially when it comes to buying a house.

It’s absolutely critical that you take the time to conduct a thorough inspection before you buy any property. You don’t want to be caught off guard by problems that turn a home from a cash cow to a money pit.

Distressed properties present a particular challenge because you often can’t go the traditional inspection route.

The most savvy distressed property investors rely on a sharp eye and insider expertise to find out which properties are worth their time and money.

The August 2010 edition of Foreclosure.com’s free educational newsletter, “Investment Exchange,” is now available, which gives you (whether you’re an investor or buyer) that insider expertise so you can make smart purchase decisions that lead to sound, money-making property investments.

To lean everything you need to know about “Inspecting the property” click here.

You’ll get home inspection tips that gurus like Foreclosure.com CEO Brad Geisen has taken to the bank time and again … and much more.

To read this month’s free educational newsletter from Foreclosure.com CLICK HERE.