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In November, when Marc Joseph celebrated his 40th birthday, he began looking for his mid-life crisis car — a Corvette, maybe a Viper.

His wife, Geri, approved.

But, as luck would have it, fate intervened.

His father, Louis, who had beat cancer, was in HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers with a heart ailment that ultimately took his life in April after surgery at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Joseph, owner of Marc Joseph Realty Inc., didn’t get his Corvette or the Viper.

“When I turned 40, I bought a green bus,” he said while laughing. “But I love it. I’m having more fun with the green bus than any venture I’ve ever done.”

The bus was needed for that new venture, an idea that grew while his father battled the heart problems and Joseph visited him.

“I was at the hospital a lot with my dad,” Joseph said. “People started asking about foreclosures and I began bringing in information. I was spending more time talking to them than I was with my dad about his health.”

A light went on in Joseph’s head.

“You know, there’s something big here,” he remembers thinking. “The need came. People are asking about it. There’s a bigger picture here. There’s a huge interest in foreclosures.

“Once the idea finally hit me, I thought, ‘How fast can I buy a bus and how long can I sit with a graphic artist,’” Joseph said.

That’s when foreclosuretoursrus.com was born.

He had to get the bus purchased and the wrap designed. He had to hire additional Realtors. He had three employees at Marc Joseph Realty: himself, a secretary and another agent.

Now, he employs an additional six Realtors, a real plus in today’s economy where layoffs are becoming commonplace.

For about four months, Joseph and his employees have been giving two tours each Saturday in Cape Coral and one on Sunday in the southern portion of Lee County including Estero and San Carlos Park. Usually 30 to 40 people each weekend take the free tours.

“It’s a blast seeing who’s out buying, from Canada, or Ohio or down here visiting from Virginia,” he said.

The reason he gives tours in those two areas is based upon the market, since most of the homes are bank-owned going for 40- to 50-cents on the dollar.

“There’s more foreclosed homes in Cape Coral and seems to be more of a demand,” he said. “Partly that is because of the 2,300 foreclosed home filings in April. There are 1,100 approximately in Cape Coral, almost half of the glut is in Cape Coral.”

But, Joseph knows a big part of that big green bus idea is missing.

“He knew about it,” Joseph said, remembering his dad. “The sad part for me is he never got to ride on the bus and see his son do the dog-and-pony show. You kind of want your father to look down on you and give you that smile. That’s the hardest part of it.

“When you look at the whole, big picture, here’s a guy who’s an orphan, born here in Fort Myers, raised in Fort Myers and knows a whole bunch of people, trying to survive the economy,” he said.

His father owned Lou Joseph Realty and the two spent years working together after Joseph graduated from Florida State University. His mother, Rosalee, died in 2003.

“Every day, typically people say they get to spend some time with their parents, but I got to spend every day with him,” Joseph said. “He was a very important business mentor.”

And that mentorship is what sealed Joseph’s fate in “thinking outside of the box,” as he puts it.

He didn’t start foreclosuretoursrus.com to make money, but as a service to those seeking a home and for his community.

“It is turning out to be a source of income generation in a stagnant market,” Joseph said.

On a recent Sunday, the tour bus was full of potential buyers, some speculators, others seeking a primary residence, and yet others checking out the market for relatives to have as second residences.

In December, Judy Cybuch moved from Denver, Colo.

“I’m trying to get an idea on what is really happening with the market,” she said.

It’s her first time looking for a house.

“I’ve never had to deal with HOA (homeowner’s association fees) before,” she said.

Fellow tour member George Meditskos, of Ontario, Canada, used to build subdivisions but now is retired.

“This is nice,” he said of one of the South Fort Myers homes. It didn’t have air conditioning or appliances, someone had taken them, but that didn’t matter.

“Price is no object,” he said.

Meditskos’ difficulties were not with the type of home — condominium or single-family — but where to live.

“I can’t make up my mind between here and Costa Rica,” he said.

Tom Elia, a fellow Canadian, attended the Cape Coral and Fort Myers tours.

He took photos of each house, inside and out, wrote notes about each — some had no finished flooring, others needed a paint job or had minor water damage, others were ready-to-move-in quality.

He was scouting the homes for a sister who lives in Canada and wants a second home.

However, Elia said, the taxes each year on a Lee County home could prove problematic.

“You can rent for cheaper,” he said. “When you come down for three or four months, it’s kind of expensive. The Canadian dollar is up, but $5,000 for taxes?

“I think some of these homes are very nice. But,” he said while touring another home, “taxes on this home are $6,000.”

Both men said the county needs to do something about the tax rate and if it could, many of the homes would be snatched up by people wanting a second or vacation home.

Frank G. Brown of Sanibel agrees.

“Lee County taxes are hindering the turn-around for Lee County,” Brown said. “We do have a county tax problem here. You cannot lower taxes one-and-one-half percent and expect people to buy.”

But, everyone on the tour agreed that Joseph’s tour bus is the way to go if you want to see foreclosed-upon properties in the county.

The tours take about three hours in the air-conditioned bus, and the number of residences seen depends on how long the people spend in each. On average, about 7 to 8 homes are toured each trip.

And, with gas prices up, home prices down and the effort it takes for people to scout out homes, they say the tour is the way to go.

“For me and my son to drive around alone, it would take 2 days,” said Brown, who was helping his son, Nick, look for a new home.

“This service is outstanding,” Brown said. “I can honestly say Marc has created something good and is doing the county a real service by providing this service.”

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E-mail Valli Finney at vallimfinney@yahoo.com