The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) insures thousands of home mortgages in Pennsylvania through its FHA organization. When an owner of one of these insured homes fails to make payments and defaults, the lender can foreclose. HUD then often bids on and buys these foreclosed properties. It then turns around and sells the foreclosures to the public. Those seeking to buy a Pennsylvania HUD home must first learn how to find them. After finding a home and checking it out, a potential buyer can then place a bid to buy HUD homes for sale throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
Step 1:
Find Pennsylvania HUD home listings. What HUD does is hire a property management company to list and sell its homes As of November 2010, the seller of Pennsylvania HUD properties is Hooks Van Holm, Inc. You can find the HUD listings for Pennsylvania on that company’s website at Hooksvanholm.com/PropertyPennsylvania.aspx. Note that this contract between Hooks and HUD may well change in the future. Visit the Pennsylvania HUD web page if the listings of HUD homes stop showing up on the Hooks website. That page can be found at Portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/states/pennsylvania. You will see a “HUD homes for sale” link that you can click on to find the then-current property management company handling HUD foreclosure sales in Pennsylvania.
Step 2:
Look at the listings to see which homes you may have an interest in buying. In some cases, HUD may have special offers for certain members of the population, such as law enforcement and teachers. Check the listings to see if a special offer applies to a particular property. Each HUD house has a price that will help you narrow down which houses you can afford. Of course, if you are looking statewide, the location may be important, particularly if you are looking to buy a home in which to live.
Step 3:
Get with a lender and tell them that you are scouting out a home to buy. What lenders may do for you is give a generic, preliminary approval for a certain amount of loan. You need to follow this step if you actually need a loan to buy a Pennsylvania HUD home.
Step 4:
Find a Pennsylvania real estate broker or agent that is approved by HUD. Prospective buyers of HUD properties in Pennsylvania must submit a bid through an approved real estate seller. The seller will help you prepare all the documents, tell you how much money you need initially to place a bid, etc.
Step 5:
Wait to see if HUD approves your bid for a particular property. Keep in close contact with your real estate broker, as time limits apply for completing the deal if Pennsylvania HUD accepts your bid to buy a home.
This step will also involve going back to your lender to get final approval for the mortgage loan if you need that to buy the home. Your HUD broker will then carry the process through to the closing, including the selection of a HUD-approved closing agent.
Step 6:
Get a deed from HUD after you buy one of these properties in Pennsylvania. A property deed is the document that shows your ownership interest in the property. Deeds must be filed in the recording office in the Pennsylvania county where you bought the HUD home. This filing gives notice to the public of your interest and protects your investment and ownership rights.
Sources:
Pennsylvania HUD Web Page
