The plight of homeowners in this recession is well-documented: foreclosure filings rose more than 17 percent last year in North Carolina. But one man's tragedy is another's triumph, and all those foreclosures are a terrific opportunity if you're in the market for a new home. WFAE's Julie Rose takes a look at the possibilities and pitfalls in buying a foreclosed home:

David Reeves really thought he knew what he was doing. He took a community class on real estate and read up on how to buy a home in foreclosure. He had an experienced realtor and a good home inspector. He's pretty handy, too, and had a flow chart of all the repairs he planned to make on the house.

And then, "right after we moved in the whole septic system went kablooey and we had to spend $5,000 we weren't expecting to get attached to the sewer," says Reeves. "We were showering at the gym. And we'd just spent all this money on new flooring, new roof, ceilings, paint inside and we hadn't even started on the outside and then the sewer goes . . . we felt like we were in that movie The Money Pit."

Reeves has saved all the receipts from his endless visits to the hardware store since he and his wife bought their home in Matthews as a foreclosure in 2005. But he's afraid to add them up.

"You know, it's. . . I mean, it's a lot, I'll just say that," says Reeves.

About $40,000, he guesses. That's on a home they bought for $180,000. They knew the obvious issues going in - holes in the walls, leaking roof, broken plumbing. But the thing that surprised him most about the whole experience, was the amount of baggage the house came with.

"See, the folks that owned this house were in a lot of trouble with a lot of people and all those people have come looking for them since we moved in," says Reeves. "I keep a pen in the mailbox to send back all the mail. And it's like alarming letters."

Letters like arrest warrants and threats from collections agencies. The police have also paid some visits.

"If you're thinking about buying a foreclosure in a neighborhood that you're not sure you want to live in, I wouldn't," warns Reeves. "Because if all this can happen? It's not worth it. The only thing that makes it worth it is the fact that we really like this house. This house is good for us."

It's close to work, to parks, to the kids' school, and it's in an established neighborhood where they plan to stay awhile.

For the last few years, long-time Charlotte realtor Bill Martin says buyers looking for foreclosed homes have been the bulk of his business.

Today he's checking out one listing that caught his eye.

"I like the door," says Martin, entering the home. "It's a really massive, pretty wood door. But as you can tell it hasn't been taken care of either. But let's just walk around and see what we see here."

He looks for ceiling leaks, broken windows, faucets and hardware the angry homeowners might have taken when the bank kicked them out. This house looks to be in pretty good shape.

Whether or not the house needs a lot of work, Martin says foreclosures are almost always a better deal, so long as you know what you're getting. Because if you find a defect after the sale goes through, he says you don't have much recourse.

"The bank is saying, you're buying the home as is," says Martin. "We don't know anything about the home, we've never lived in it. These are our terms, take 'em or leave 'em."

On the other hand, Martin says that tends to make banks a little more willing to negotiate on price. But keep in mind that when you buy a foreclosed home, any past liens and unpaid taxes become your responsibility. That can come as a very unwelcome surprise unless you've done a thorough deed search before you sign.

But Martin says above all, it's financing that causes most of his sales on foreclosed homes to fall through.

"The best deals are always if you have cash," he says. "I'd say you can also get the best deal on the higher end homes. There are fewer people that are financially capable of making that transaction work."

A lot of banks simply won't make loans on foreclosed homes. Others will only lend what the house appraises for, which means you'll have a hard time getting extra cash to cover the thousands you'll need for repairs.

But if you've got the money, the patience, a little professional help, Martin says you can make it work.