Debt Free

It's true. You can get HUD homes for sale at 50% off! What is a HUD home? HUD is a federal agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD homes are those that were bought using FHA insured mortgages that fell into foreclosure. After the home has been foreclosed upon, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) pays the lender as per the terms of its agreement and takes possession of the home.

After the home has been transferred, it is sold at auction. You've seen those late night ads and websites that promise to show you how to get government homes at auction. Well, in many cases there's no reason to pay for a website or whatever the late night infomercial is selling. You simply go to HUD's website and choose the state where you want to find a HUD home. You'll get a look at HUD homes for sale in each area. Despite all the stories of getting homes at 10 cents on the dollar, discounts typically run 10% - 15% off normal home retail prices.

One other point of interest for those looking into this avenue of home ownership; you must use a real estate professional that's been through the HUD approval process, and is certified to deal with HUD properties. Ask your real estate agent if this applies to them if you are trying to bid on one of these properties at auction.

Now, about this whole HUD homes at 50% off business; HUD's name actually gives a clue into how you can get these homes at such a tremendous discount. It's in the Urban Development part of their name. Many FHA properties are at the lower to middle end of the scale in terms of price because FHA insured mortgages are usually used by a huge number people to buy a home, and are especially popular with first time home buyers. Their popularity stems from the fact that down payment requirements are very low, normally only 3%, and there are no income requirements. If you have an adequate credit score and have the down payment, you will probably qualify for an FHA mortgage.

Because it's not in anyone's best interest to have blighted urban areas, your friendly Federal Government has come up with a program or two to help spruce things up a bit. Someone figured that one great way to help make ugly areas a bit more beautiful would be to have responsible homeowners live in some of these areas. Even better would be to have police officers, fire fighters and teachers, veritable pillars of the community all, take up residence in such centers of urban blight. After all, there's probably going to be a bit less crime in a area when it's populated by a higher than average percentage of the boys in blue.

So, here's how you can qualify for your 50% discount off HUD homes. First, spend a few months at your local police or fire academy. You can also get a teaching degree, if that's more your style. Here's how the program works. Certain areas with strong support from local and county governments have been designated as “revitalization areas” by HUD. These are areas where a bit of community and economic development would transform them from crime ridden neighborhoods that need help into areas of the city where responsible taxpayers call home and business owners set up shop.

To encourage police officers, EMTs, teachers and fire fighters to take up residence in revitalization areas, HUD has what they call their “Good Neighbor Next Door Program”. If you are one of the aforementioned groups, you are eligible to purchase a HUD home at auction for a 50% discount. If you consider that you're probably getting a 10 – 15% discount anyway, this is a really attractive proposition. On revitalization properties, HUD opens up the auction for a period of 5 days exclusively for those persons who meet the eligibility requirements.

What's the catch? Well, there really isn't one, except the requirement that the home be your only residence for at least 3 years. That's a pretty good deal, especially if you consider that your very presence will likely raise local property values. If you can talk a few of your friends at the department to buy homes close by it will help home values appreciate even more. So, not only can you help revitalize your community, but you can really help revitalize your finances by getting so much home equity in such a short period of time. Remember that you have to use only those real estate agents approved to handle such transactions.