Up North ... I have a stupid question ... who owns the home???
The person who owns the home must do the repairs before it can pass HUDs inspection.
I just purchased a house last year that HUD owns. According to my realtor ... I could not touch the house for repairs, painting, etc ... in any way, form or fashion ... until I had signed the papers and the house was legally mine.
If I did try to do ANY repairs, I would not only not be able to buy the house, but I could get her in trouble and myself.
Tell him to NOT touch that home in anyway ... go to HUDs website:
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD for further details ...
Also they have a number you can call and those folks will answer all your questions for free. I called them myself last year when I was told I couldn't borrow additional money on the house to fix the repairs that my lender was going to require done within 2 months of purchasing.
Call them, it's free ... and they were super helpful to me.