How to Buy a Home for $15,000
Two years ago, Daryl Sanford bought his three-bedroom house in the Syracuse, N.Y., area for $40,000. Now it’s valued at $72,000.
Jason Denny and Megan Amatrone got a discount of about 25% off the market value when they bought their homes.
And Jim Meyers bought his upstate New York property in 2003 for just $15,000. Now it’s estimated worth is around $107,000.
How did these homeowners score such great deals? They bought their homes through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. Essentially, they bought foreclosed homes from Uncle Sam.
When they are foreclosed on, these bank-owned properties are taken over by the government, which assigns them to HUD to market and resell.
That’s according to John Adolfi, owner of Adolfi Real Estate who has specialized in HUD homes for years and authored a book about it, “HUD Home Buying Secrets.”
Because these homes are “misunderstood,” he says, people typically don’t go after them or don’t know about, driving the prices down (he also says they are not the favorites of most real estate agents, due to the paperwork involved and low commissions).
But for buyers, they can be a great deal. Adolfi says you can typically expect to get a HUD home for 10 to 50% below market value. And unlike foreclosed homes where homeowners are competing with investors (many who pay in cash), owner occupants get first dibs on these.
To buy one, there’s a bidding process through Hudhomestore.com.
Check out the accompanying video interview with Adolfi to hear his best tip for winning a bid, caveats for buyers, and how to score those really good $10,000 or $15,000 deals.
Special Thanks:
HudHomeStore.com
John Adolfi
Paul Finch Syracuse Rentals LLC
Darryl Sanford
Jason Denny
