About HUD Homes

HUD Homes

With over 1,500 agents operating across the state, the F.C. Tucker Company is Indiana's premiere real estate firm and one of the largest independent firms in the country. The F.C. Tucker Company has been providing real estate services to the Indianapolis area for nearly 100 years, with 16 locations in Indianapolis and others in surrounding towns like Fishers, Carmel and Noblesville. In addition to its other services, F.C. Tucker allows its customers to locate, research and purchase HUD homes. Before learning how this service works, however, it may be helpful to learn more about HUD homes.

What is a HUD Home?

A HUD home begins as any residence backed by a mortgage insured through the Federal Housing Administration. When the owner of the residence defaults on his or her mortgage, the house becomes the property of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD. After obtaining a home due to foreclosure, HUD then puts the property on the market. This is done partially to promote affordable home ownership, but also to recoup losses incurred by the foreclosure.

Every time HUD sells a property, buyers who are interested in purchasing the home as a primary residence are given priority for a short time, with the home being offered to investors and other kinds of buyers if the home is not sold during that period. Depending on the details of each situation, the new owner of a HUD home may be able to assume the existing loan or may need to obtain a new source of financing. Alternatively, buyers may pay for HUD homes in cash.

HUD takes several factors into consideration when appraising the value of a HUD home, including its location and fair market value. Some HUD homes see their prices reduced dramatically due to needed repairs. All HUD homes are sold as-is, meaning buyers are responsible for performing or funding repairs on the properties they purchase from HUD.

How Can I Find a HUD Home?

To make finding a HUD home easier, F.C. Tucker works to provide you with listings of all available HUD homes in your area. The HUD website features a search tool that allows visitors to retrieve listings for HUD homes based on a number of criteria. For instance, you could search for a HUD home in Avon, specifying that it must have at least three bedrooms and cost less than $100,000. The search tool would then bring up a short listing of every HUD home that met your qualifications in the selected area. Each short listing should include a thumbnail picture of the property, its price, whether that price has been reduced, the types of buyers to which bidding is currently open, the bid open date and other information.

Clicking on the thumbnail or name of any HUD home in the search results brings you to a detailed view of your selected property. This page contains additional information like the year of the home's construction, its size in square feet, total rooms, parking accommodations and whether buyers are subject to homeowner fees.

To purchase a HUD home, you must contact a HUD-registered bidder, such as F.C. Tucker. F.C. Tucker will then represent you during the bidding process, helping you to obtain the HUD home of your choice for as little money as possible.

How Does the HUD Home Bidding Process Work?

Once bidding on a HUD home begins, your F.C. Tucker realtor may submit a sealed bid to HUD. This is known as the Offer Period. Once the Offer Period has ended, HUD opens all received bids, generally selecting the one that provides them with the greatest net profit. If no bids received during the Offer Period are deemed acceptable, realtors and other buyers may still submit bids, which are opened by HUD as they are received.

HUD will notify your F.C. Tucker agent if his or her bid was successful, generally within one or two days. At this point, HUD considers you to have entered into a contract to buy the selected property. Buyers are usually given 30 to 60 days before their settlement date, by which time they are expected to close on the purchase. Following the sale, HUD pays the agent a commission on the sale.

Finding the right HUD property can be difficult, especially when you find yourself in need of a home, but unable to understand the real estate terminology you find on listings. F.C. Tucker's realtors have the years of experience and knowledge needed to help you locate an affordable HUD house, evaluate its condition and buy it. Whether you are looking for a property in the city of Indianapolis or its surrounding towns, we urge you to call F.C. Tucker to see how we can help.

Information on www.indyhomedeals.com is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. For the most up-to-date information, please contact a F.C. Tucker agent.