Buyers take advantage of HUD foreclosures

Donna Walker is middle-aged but has never owned a home. She wants to change that.

“A home is a good investment,” the Emory University human resources assistant said. “It’s something I can leave for my daughter and her daughters.”

So Walker, and a handful of other prospective buyers, braved a chilly Thursday evening to attend “How to Buy a HUD Home in Georgia” at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park.

The event was just part of a flurry of activity during the week concerning foreclosures.

HUD also hosted a forum for real estate professionals on selling HUD foreclosures and participated in the 7th Annual Affordable Housing Conference in downtown Atlanta, put on by three non-profit groups. Much of the discussion there focused on the federal government’s new $3.92 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which gave money to states and communities so they can buy and refurbish or demolish foreclosed homes. The program is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

HUD’s inventory of homes in Georgia climbed 39 percent from September 2007 to September 2008 because of soaring foreclosures, and they now total more than 3,200. Sixty percent of those homes are in six metro Atlanta counties.

HUD ends up with the properties when homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages stop making payments.

Some of the dwellings are in move-in condition, others need repairs. Either way, HUD wants to put them back in the hands of owner-occupants or, short of that, investors. Prices reflect the depressed state of the market and the down payment is small with FHA financing.

“I believe it’s probably a good deal,” said Akbar Forghani, an IRS employee who attended HUD’s home-buying presentation. Forghani said he’s looking for a bargain in Alpharetta so he can sell or rent his current home in Norcross.

But, he added, “I haven’t been in this kind of business before.”

Anyone can buy a HUD home but the purchase process is unconventional. Buyers must use a HUD-registered real estate agent — there are plenty of them — to bid online. Pemco Ltd. manages properties in Georgia for HUD, so listings can be seen at hudpemco.com.

When a home is listed, owner-occupied bids get priority over investor bids for a limited period of time.

Realtor Mable Smith, who attended the HUD presentation, said HUD homes often sell for more than the listed price. A client of hers recently bid $130,000 on an Ellenwood house that was priced at $124,000, but lost out to a bid that was $2,000 higher.

HUD pays agents like Smith a $500 bonus if they sell a home to an owner-occupant. Other incentives are available to non-investor purchasers.

Along with HUD, banks and mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reluctant owners of hundreds of vacant homes in Atlanta.

“We see entire streets of abandoned homes,” said Terri Lee, deputy commissioner in Atlanta’s planning and community development department. Lee spoke at the affordable housing conference downtown. “We have a lot of devastation.”

The worst areas are ZIP codes 30310, 30315 and 30331 in the city’s south end, she said.

Atlanta was awarded $12.3 million in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help neighborhoods rebound from escalating foreclosures. In all, the state and nine city and county governments in the state received $153 million.