CraftsByRobin

If you read HUDs site ... you will notice that you are not allowed (as the buyer) to make repairs to the property until it has been sold to you (the buyer). This is if the house is listed with HUD. If it belongs to an individual, the seller can sell it "as is", but HUD would require the repairs be done within a certain time frame of purchasing (or at least that's how I understand it).

Either way ... you can call HUD and they will answer your questions.

shaverg

I'm a Realtor in California. That does sound fishy. I can't imagine a buyer fixing a home that he has not closed on. Sounds like he needs a buyers agent.

sharon b

As strange as it sounds it is true about the "under 50" thousand dollar mortgages :hunf: I got dinged with a much higher interest rate because I owe less than 50 on my house. And I truly think that is why so many mortgages are out of proportion . It was explained to me that they make less money on the lower mortgages so they make up for it with higher rates :twisted: And since I choose to afford my house I pay for it.

Also unless an agreement is reached the seller makes the repairs. because until all the papers are signed anything can go wrong and the sale can fall thru and why would the buyer put money into a property that is NOT theirs . the whole thing sounds shady... tell sons to back off and see what happens. if the house has been empty for awhile there is no rush

littlehud

I have never heard of the buying doing the repairs for HUD approval. It is always the seller. Somethings funny here.

Barbm

Probably just common practice for our area. It is done all the time. When I bought my first house in 1987 it was a FHA loan. They were requiring painting on the garage and the back of the house. We paid $100 to get the second floor of the back of the house done as our Sellers wouldn't do a thing. We paid it and we painted the garage. Then we closed.

We were approved- this was a last condition to get to the closing table. So wouldn't you paint it if it was a condition of the loan and your Seller wouldn't- or couldn't do it?

To me- it was a matter of losing the deposit, fees to the Bank and not having a home.

Up North

His Realtor is working with him on it, I understood it to re shingle the whole garage roof but it is just a few shingles and 3 or 4 plug covers. He said if the deal fell through he would go get his shingles back! I hope this works out for him and the Realtor can get it straightened out. I think it is crazy that they don't want to spend that little bit of money to get it up to code.

Lisa T

I actually did this. I bought a house using an FHA loan for my first house. It wasn't a HUD house, just some people selling their rental house. Anyway, before I bought the house I had to upgrade the electrical to 100 amp service, paint the entire thing because it had REALLY old paint, possibly including lead, add a railing to the basement stairs and a couple other things.

I ended up putting about $1500 of my own money into the house before I owned it, but the sellers refused to do any work to it, and the house was a really good deal so it was worth it. I did it with the understanding that if for some reason the deal fell through, I lost that money. It all went fine, and the stuff was all stuff I would have done after buying the house anyway.

The sellers gave me a key through the realtor and knew I was doing the work. They even told me how nice it looked at the closing, saying it was their first house and they were happy to see someone else get it for theirs.

So, for whatever it's worth, I did the same thing and had no problems.

nursie76

I recently sold a house and when the people were trying for a loan, I believe that in order for the specific loan they were trying for to go through, this, and this and this had to be done....but I don't believe they said the the buyer had to do it, just that it had to be done or the money put aside to do it (in that case by the buyer) for the loan to go through. This was my step fathers home and was a fixer upper that they got at $20K less than appraised value. As it turned out, they didn't go with that loan company.

I agree, your son should be careful, what if he fixed it then the sale fell through...

Quilter2B

We just put our house on the market and asked the realtor questions at HUD. She told us the same thing - if there was something needing fixing to pass HUD inspection it would be US that would have to make the repairs. Perhaps it was just a general statement that this things would have to be done; it would not be his responsibility.

CraftsByRobin

Please keep us posted on how it goes and I pray your son get the home that he wants...