How to buy the dollar home

Question

I'm looking into buying a dollar home and I was wondering what is the process of buying if you're trying to live in the the property as an owner occupant. I don't get the process and I was wondering if anyone knew the process and could explain it to a college student. Thank you for taking the time to read this and helping me.

Tiger M. · Answer

Once a city makes the purchase from HUD or through Tax sales, they offer them for $1 dollar as long as you meet their income guidelines, occupy and rehab. Its all about bringing up the tax base. details below.

Gary Indiana story

Buffalo New York

virginia

I also saw one in Kansas but can't find it now.

Here is the HUD comment

Carima Forsythe · Answer

Thanks everyone for your information and insight. I don't see this as a plan, I'd like to own a multi family in the New Haven/ Hamden border of Connecticut. However, I haven't met the right person rather agent that is willing to work with a new investor. Right now I'm looking for owner financed multi families. I doubt I could get hard money because of my inexperience and how expensive it is.

Bill Gulley · Answer

I've not done these dollar homes, but others. What I found is that often you'll pay more eventually than the ARV/MV! If you consider management as an expense, you're underwater, but non-profits still buy them. Renting before selling gets you out of it in the long run. :)

Trevor Schumann · Answer

If you want to buy a home for a dollar I would recommend going to www.ebay.com and searching for "Detroit Real Estate". I'm sure you will find something within a couple hundred of your price range. The only challenge you will face is the fact that you will likely pay thousands more than the property is worth. (Yes real estate can have negative value. It is simultaneously an asset and liability, so when the liability aspects outweigh the assets value you have a negatively valued property.) This is not to say making money in Detroit isn't possible, it's just a good example of a city with plenty of real estate of negative value.

Joel Owens · Answer

Carima "A" for effort thinking outside the box but if your plan involves purchasing a home for 1 dollar then you might want to start tweaking that plan to something attainable.

If investors on this board could buy homes for 1 dollar we would have been all over it a long time ago.

Here is more info:

Hud Dollar Homes

Joel Owens · Answer

There is no easy money out there everyone. You have to work for what you make on this planet. What you have to decide is HOW you want to make that money and the process to go about it as efficiently as possible.

The dollar homes thing as mentioned is a very limited process that is not open to the public at large.

Mark Ferguson · Answer

I just sold a HUD to an investor that he is going to flip. Great HUD deals come around every so often.

Sam Leon · Answer

Even general HUD homes seem to be for the most part only for owner occupants, non-profits and government agencies.

I rarely see a HUD home that allows investor bidding that is attractive to me.  Is this different from state to state?

Mark Ferguson · Answer

Dollar homes are not available to the general public, only government agencies.  If the home is not sold after being actively on the market for 6 months, HUD lists them in a special bid period for government cities only for a week or so.  I have seen two properties make it to this bid period in three years and they were both in very rural areas two years ago and extremely over priced.

How to buy the dollar home

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