Can You Really Buy a HUD Home For One Dollar?

Can you really buy a Hud home for one dollar? What are HUD One Dollar Homes? These are HUD homes that have been taken back by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”), which is a part of HUD, as a result of a foreclosure.

An FHA insured loan basically protects the lender in the event the homebuyer defaults on the mortgage. The FHA covers the mortgage for the lender, takes the home back thru conveyance after formal procedures, puts the home on the market (“HUD home”), and tries to sell it. If the home doesn’t sell within six months, it may very well become a HUD One Dollar Home.

In the unstable, empty-house riddled real estate market today, many cities are bursting at the seams with HUD foreclosures that have been awaiting buyers for well over six months.

HUD homes that have been sitting for six months or more need to be moved, sold, gotten rid of, so they don’t sit stagnant and attract vandals, vagrants and stow-aways, the new trend of “Average Joe” setting up shop in a long-standing empty foreclosure without benefit of paying the mortgage.

So HUD sells many homes at discounts to simply move them under several discount programs. HUD Dollar Homes is just one such program.

Further, it costs money for preservation and protection (P&P) of these empty FHA homes, and lots of it. It does the mortgage company no good to hold onto empty properties, because they have to protect and manage them. As a result, a whole new grassroots foreclosure cleanup industry has blossomed as a result of the staggering number of empty foreclosures on the market.

These property preservation type companies go in and cleanup foreclosures, handling everything from trash-outs, to boarding windows and doors, tarping roofs and a host of other repairs.

But even with ongoing property maintenance of these empty foreclosures by foreclosure cleanup companies, too many FHA foreclosures still remain on the market for well over six months, and they become viable candidates for the HUD program.

What’s the catch? There is no catch, really; there are simply guidelines, rules, regulations, certifications and re-certifications.

Can HUD homes be purchased for one dollar? Yes, but in large scenario, only local government and qualifying non-profit homeownership organizations have access to these dollar homes.

Non-profits must be approved to purchase HUD homes at a discount under several HUD discount programs.

The immediate trickle down positive is that by permitting local government and non-profits to purchase these HUD homes, low- and moderate-income individuals can benefit by purchasing the homes at incredible savings.

Newly refurbished homes in downtrodden areas as a result of the program often stimulate neighborhood revitalization, an influx of new residents and the opening of small businesses that contribute to the birth of burgeoning new neighborhoods all across the U.S.

For more information, contact your local HUD office directly.

Find More HUD Home Auction Articles