Yes, you can! HUD has every property inspected and publishes a so-called Property Condition Report for each of their listings. These are very detailed reports you can use to get an excellent picture of the condition of a Columbus HUD Home.

Let me show you how to read the Property Condition Report. As an example I want to use our featured condo on 3005 Seeger St, Grove City, 43228. Here is the property detail page. 

The top of the page states the case number, address, appraised value, list price and other important facts about the property. When you scroll down the page, you will see two yellow bars indicating that this is a new listing and that it is available for bidding by owner occupants only.

Just above the 2nd yellow bar is a line item titled “Property Condition” with a link to a pdf file called “Property Condition Report PCR Part 1”. Here is the link to the PCR for 3005 Seeger St, Columbus OH 43228. 

This 19 page document gives a detailed description of the property  condition. It starts out with the address, case number and picture, the date the inspection was completed and the name of the inspector. Next you see the Table of Contents, the Inspection Requirements, and finally the actual inspection Report Summary.

On page 6 the report gives a quick summary of the overall condition of the property (this one is in excellent condition). It states that only the dishwasher is there, all other appliances are missing. The report also lists which utility companies service this property.

Further into the report you can read which Furnace, A/C unit, water heater, electric panel etc. are present.

The Property Condition Report is especially helpful when you are trying to evaluate a Columbus HUD Home that needs substantial repairs. We suggest you read the report before you invest a lot of time on the road inspecting properties.  HUD is doing the property inspection for YOU – with significantly more information about the conditon of the home than you will find for most other Columbus Houses offered for sale.

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Combine these 2 tools with our inside pictures and video previews and you get a very good visual impression of a Columbus House. Today let’s look at another tool that gives you essential information about a property: the Property Records of the County Auditor.

Most County Auditors have a website where the general public can access property information. Typically, you see the owner’s name and mailing address, the size of the property including number of rooms, the auditor’s tax value of the home, the most recent sale price, the sale date and the annual property taxes.

Why is this useful when you analyze Columbus HUD Homes?

You certainly want to know what the auditor thinks the property is worth, because it determines how much you will have to pay in property taxes. We’ll show you how to appeal this valuation, but it’s a lengthy process.

You also want to compare the property size and number of rooms to what HUD has published. The most recent sales price gives you an idea of what the property was worth at that time.

Some auditors have access to property maps (GIS), so you can see the layout of the lot and its surroundings. You also may see potential easements which give utilities or cities certain rights to access your property.

Here are the links to County Auditor’s web-pages in Central Ohio:
Delaware County Auditor
Franklin County Auditor
Fairfield County Auditor
Licking County Auditor
Madison County Auditor
Pickaway County Auditor
Union County Auditor

If you need help using these tools, feel free to email or call.  We’d be glad to help you analyze your HUDhomes purchase

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Microsoft’s mapping service, call Microsoft Live, offers Bird’s Eye Views of buildings.  It allows you to see a home from 4 different sides – usually from North, East, South and West. Unlike Streetview which shows the front of the home from the street, Bird’s Eye views allow you to explore all sides of a home including the backyard.

To view a Columbus HUD Home with this service you need to go to http://maps.live.com . Copy or type the property address into the Live Search box at the top and hit search.  The result shows a street map of the home. Now you can click the “Bird’s eye” button at the top of the map to see a really crisp overhead image of the area around the house.

This is how it looks like for the home at 5544 Cedardale Drive, Westerville, OH which we featured in another post yesterday.

Try it out – it’s a great tool! In combination with Google Streetview it will help you explore a neighborhood without leaving your home.

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Specializing in HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Today we begin to introduce tools that will make your search much easier, whether you look for a Columbus HUD Home or just any piece of real estate. I assume that you receive our email newsletter and Columbus HUD Homes Maps every Friday.  If not, then take a minute and click here to register.

Let me show you how you can get a street level images of any home in Columbus.  The service is called Streetview and was developed by Google. 

Here’s the link http://maps.google.com

Last year Google introduced Streetview as part of Google Maps.  They drive all the streets of a City and take 360 degree pictures of buildings and the roadway.  Streetview is available in most major metro areas, including the City of Columbus.

Streetview images are not directly visible on our Columbus HUD Home Maps. However, if you click on the “Property Details” you get to HUD’s (NHMSI’s) property page. On this page you will find a link just beneath the picture of the HUD home called “View Map”. When you click on this text link you are redirected to standard Google Maps and you can display StreetView images by clicking on the picture in the bubble. 

Take a few minutes to explore Streetview.  We’ll cover another tool for seeing a Bird’s Eye View of a property in another post. 

Please email or call, if you need help!

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Specializing in HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
 (614) 975-9650 

A competent HUD Realtor can help you through the paperwork jungle that comes with buying a house from the government. A good agent will get you the best deal available.

If you just started with your search you should check the following places to find HUD Homes.  We suggest you search:

NHMSI Website

This is the most up-to-date place for finding HUD homes.  You can search by County, ZIP code or City and download all the property information, including a condition report and the HUD mortgagee letter. Go to www.nhmsi.com to start your search.

Columbus MLS

You can find HUD listings on the Columbus MLS.  Unfortunately, this information is sometimes out of date. An offer may have been accepted on a home, while the MLS listing has not been updated.  Furthermore, you will need the help of an agent to search for information in the property description, such as the term “HUD Owned”.

Columbus HUD Maps

We decided to implement a FREE service to make it easier for home buyers to search for HUD homes.  When you subscribe to the email newsletter at the end of this post you get a weekly Columbus HUD Home Map.  We take the latest information from NHMSI’s website when listings are updated every Friday and publish all homes on a Google map.  It is much easier to search for HUD homes on a map, and you can still link to the same information published by NHMSI.

Check it out now. You’ll be suprised how easy it is to search for Columbus HUD Homes on a Google map.

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS 
Specializing in HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650