photo credit: David J. Thomas
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently approved a program designed to make foreclosed houses available to owner-occupant buyers. From now until October 2012, certain states will allow a down payment of only $100 for the purchase of a HUD-owned REO property. The program stipulates that the buyer must be an owner-occupant and must have FHA financing. The purchase must be for the entire amount of the current list price, and standard FHA underwriting guidelines will apply. This program has already been approved for two of HUDs four regions in the country and include the regions managed by the Denver Homeownership Center and the Atlanta Homeownership Center.
The Denver Homeownership Center's region includes: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Utah. The Atlanta Homeownership Centers region includes: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the Carribean.
This program can also be used on an FHA 203k loan, which is often used to finance renovation and home repairs. Matt Martin, CEO of Matt Martin Real Estate Management explains that thanks to the new policy, with an FHA 230k loan, a buyer "can find a property that needs some TLC, fix it up however they want to, and finance the whole thing for $100."
