ngs have been busy lately on the development front. Our College Football site is doing well, and growing steadily. We now have launched a new website this month called GoHUD.com that is a resource for home buyers and investors to search the portfolio of HUD Homes that are currently available through the US Federal Government.
HUD Homes are an interesting opportunity for home buyers, and also investors, who want to purchase a home in almost any state across the country. A “HUD Home” is one that is being sold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. When someone with an FHA-insured mortgage can’t make the payments, the lender forecloses on the home and HUD takes ownership. It is then offered for sale at market value, based on a recent AS-IS appraisal, meaning, the market value in its current condition. Obviously with the current financial market, the number of available HUD properties has doubled over the last 6 months, and some states have thousands of available properties.
HUD properties are made available in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on “Owner Occupied” purchases that include the “Good Neighbor Next Door” buying opportunities for “Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians.” This last group of individuals can get incredible discounts on the purchase of a HUD property. The prices on HUD Homes tend to be very price competitive in the areas where they are located, and each will have an associated Property Condition Report.
When watching the prices on the homes, you might notice a common pattern as a particular home stays on the market. The home will be listed, and be available to “Owner Occupants” … meaning that you must live in the home as your primary residence if you purchase it. If the home is not sold in a week or so, then the status will change to “All Bidders” … meaning that anyone can now bid to purchase the property for any purpose. If the home still does not sell, it is common that the price will then be reduced by a full 10%, and the status will return to “Owner Occupants” again. This process will repeat until the home sells. Owner occupant, all bidders, price reduction … and on and on.
Our current website aggregates the details of all available HUD Homes across the country, and provides a variety of ways to search, map, and “favorite” any property in the database. We’re continuing to add features to automate your monitoring of a property and the status changes, and also to engage with a HUD Authorized Real Estate Agent, who can assist you with navigating the various issues in researching and eventually purchasing a HUD property.
To me, it has been a fun project to learn more and more about HUD Homes, and how they work … and the opportunities that exist. I’m not yet sure if the real estate market is close to the bottom yet, but I’m watching homes in a wide range of cities across the nation for an eventual investment opportunity.
Check out the website and let us know what you think!