USHUD and Selling Homes That Need Repair

Doing the best for the market does not always mean achieving the best and highest price for a home. Sometimes it means getting the home off of the market and this helps the entire community. Home prices are based on the other homes in the market. For this reason a vacant home can have a dramatically negative effect on the rest of the neighborhood. Focusing on these homes also provides us with a built in motivation that is not normally associated with showing traditional listings.

USHUD has always believed that foreclosures and vacant homes provide a motivation for both the buyer and seller to make a commitment. The buyer would like to save as much money as possible and the seller is usually saddled with a mortgage that they would like to get out from under. This motivation allows for faster decisions and more homes sold in a given period of time. If the home is in need of some repair the FHA 203k loan is a wonderful avenue for getting the home repaired to the taste and desires of the buyer. Getting aquatinted with the FHA 203k loan is very simple and a link is provided at the bottom of this posting.203k’s are no more than repair loans where the additional funds are put into escrow during the repair phase of the home after purchase.

The repairs need to be above $5,000 and must conform to what is seen to improve the value of the home. Therefor adding a fountain to the front yard or a swimming pool would not be permitted in a 203k loan but most everything else that we can think of is on the table.

Adding a second story, adding a garage or rehabbing a kitchen and or bath are all seen to be improvements and those easily fall into a 203k loan. We can also consider most other repairs even when the condition of the current home is in top condition. Changing hardwood floors or buying new carpet and tile floors all fall under the allowable issues that a 203k can cover. USHUD once referred to 203k loans as Burger King loans as the buyer can have it their way. But since Burger King changed its ad campaign we have not used that nickname for some time.