My wife and I are looking to purchase a house (not a condo or other
type of residence) in the northern suburbs of Illinois in Cook and
Lake counties (not in Chicago).  One avenue that we wanted to explore
was the option of purchasing repossessed houses from banks or mortgage
lenders.  However, I have limited experience in this.  I have found a
number of REO websites and many seem to be incomplete / not very
comprehensive and I'm not sure how up-to-date they are.  My question
is, can you provide me with a an optimal method for learning about the
real/actual/up-to-date REOs in these areas?  Specifically, if you
could point me to websites that are comprehensive and
up-to-date(meaning, they include most, if not all, of the current REOs
in an area) as well as- and more importantly- the contacts (names &
numbers) for the REO departments of major lending institutions / banks
in these areas as well as any suggestions for how to go about this -
that would certainly help us on our way.

Thanks,
Gordon