said on January 21st, 2010 categorized under: Financing
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Either someone at HUD is really smart, or they’re reading my blog.
I’m inclined to think it’s the former.
Last week I explained many rehabbers I work with were scrambling to find houses and duplexes to buy before the end of the month so once repairs were completed, they would have owned it the required 90 days in order to be able to resell it to an FHA buyer before the tax credit deadline.
This same waiting period often prohibited FHA insured buyers from acquiring some bank and HUD owned properties.
On Friday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a temporary policy lifting the 90 day waiting period.
The waiver goes into effect on February 1, 2010, and is effective for one year; unless, of course, HUD changes its mind.
Sales must be “arms-length”, with no shared interest between the buyer and seller or anyone else participating in the sale. When the resale price of the duplex is more than 20 percent above what it cost the seller to acquire it, certain conditions have to be met for the waiver to apply.
This should help keep the market supplied with affordable first time home buyer properties in good condition.
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Since it’s Memorial Day, a time when we remember people we’ve loved and lost, I thought it would be nice to write about Irene and her Rule of Real Estate. Have you heard of her? My clients have. And she’s earned them more money than Carleton Sheets ever has.
Irene was my grandmother. Irene Balle. She would want you to know that.
My grandparents were part of America’s Greatest Generation. They grew up on western Minnesota farms, survived the Great Depression, relocated to San Francisco during World War II to build ships for the Navy, then returned to Minnesota where they bought their first (and only) home.
Thankfully, there’s some longevity in my family. As a result, I had the great privilege of getting to know them as an adult. I marvelled at them, really. They stayed in their home well into their 90’s; even surviving the tornado that swept through St Peter, Minn., in 1998.
I came home and visited them the summer after the tornado. Most of their windows had been blown out in the storm, scattering shards of glass everywhere; even embedding it in the carpet. When I stopped in, the old carpet had been removed. And for the first time, I got to see the absolutely pristine oak hardwood floors that lied beneath.
Grandma was agonizing over carpet choices. I was incredulous, and said, “Grandma, these floors are beautiful! Don’t cover them with carpet!”
Irene gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “But we wouldn’t want people to think we were poor!”, she exclaimed.
Huh?
Read the rest of this entry »
