Almost everyone agrees that 2012 marked the turn-around of the real estate market in the United States. Inventories of homes for sale have dropped everywhere, the number of sales increased and home values started to rise.

We also read that fewer foreclosures have been filed by lenders than in previous years. Federal programs, such as HARP, have been streamlined to help home owners refinance their under-water loans with minimum documentation.

So, how does this affect the market for HUD homes and other government owned REOs?

We assembled the data  and created a few tables to show you how the market for these properties evolved in 2012. You can see that many HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac homes are for sale. Good deals are still out there. As a matter of fact, government owned homes are probably the best value for owner occupants as well as investors.

Let’s get started with Columbus HUD homes.

At the beginning of 2013 you can find 109 HUD properties listed for sale in Central Ohio. The  first chart below shows HUD listings for each of the 7 Central Ohio Counties.

If you compare listing numbers with July 2012 and January 2012 you can see that we have almost 50% more HUD listings now, than a year ago. However, this number pales to the 400 HUD listings we have 2 years ago.

List prices of HUD homes range from $10,000 to $177,000.

The next 2 tables show Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac homes currently for sale in the Columbus metro area. You can see a similar increase in the number of homes, as with HUD properties.

The asking prices of Fannie Mae homes start as low as $4,200 and go all the way to $359,900. Freddie Mac’s properties range from $7,500 to $239,900.

What’s the Impact of Government REOs?

The overall impact of government owned REOs on the Columbus housing market is rather small. The combination of all HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned properties is 613. Compare this to the total number of 10,110 homes for sale on the Columbus MLS.

Government REOs are only 6% of all listings. This percentage will probably decline in 2013 as the remaining “shadow inventory” is liquidated by banks, and more home owners will list their property for sale to take advantage of the increased demand.

The number of distress sales has declined throughout 2012. According to the Columbus Board of Realtors the share of “lender mediated” homes (shortsales and foreclosures) is down to 17% of the total inventory (Q3 2012). Most likely it will be even smaller at the end of the year.

How to find Government Owned Properties

As the vast majority of homes for sale in Central Ohio are retail sales, government owned REOs only make 6% of the total housing market. They are more popular and better deals than typical bank-owned REOs, because they are usually in better condition and sometimes come with special, low down-payment financing for owner occupants.

Government REOs are easy to find at the respective websites of:

• HUD hudomestore.com
• Fannie Mae homepath.com
• Freddie Mac homesteps.com

These websites are user friendly and easy to navigate. You can search by address, city, county, zip code, price and size of property. And, you can search government REOs anywhere in the US.

Tips for Buying Government REOs in 2013

If you plan to buy a government owned property, you first have to decide, if you want to live in it (owner occupant) or you would like to buy it as an investor.

All government programs favor owner occupants over investors. Owner occupants have exclusive bidding periods and sometimes may qualify for special FHA financing, with a low down-payment.

Before you submit an offer, make sure are get pre-approved. You will have to work with a lender that is qualified to finance these purchases. Your pre-approval letter has to follow the format specified by the government agency selling the home.

An experienced real estate agent or loan officer can help you satisfy this requirement.

Be patient and don’t fall in love with a house. Some homes are really good deals and you are not the only one to notice. Usually, they yield multiple offers. They may even spark a bidding war.

Investors have to wait until the exclusive bidding period for owner occupants is over. If a home needs more than $5,000 in repairs, your changes are very good to get it at a rock bottom price, if you can pay cash.

Always work with an experienced real estate agent that completed HUD, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac transactions before. These deals are too complicated for newbies and hobby agents.

You should not call the listing agent either. You want to have an independent buyer’s agent represent your interest. Furthermore, many listing agents who specialize in government owned REOs are very busy and sometimes not responsive. This could result in you losing out on a great deal, when truly motivated agents submit offers for their buyers.

Government Owned REO’s are probably the best deals available in today’s market. They will become more expensive during 2013. So, get ready and submit your bid, before all the good ones are gone!

The title of this post reflects what many people associate with HUD homes in Columbus.

Although some are overpriced and in terrible condition, most HUD properties are reasonably priced and only need some TLC. As a matter of fact, the majority of HUD homes is insurable. HUD allocates a small repair escrow, so you can get FHA financing and don’t even have to pay for your own appraisal.

A small percentage of HUD homes is in terrible shape and need a lot of work. Based on our experience of selling HUD homes for more than 5 years, only 25%  of all HUD properties are serious rehab projects. The rest of them may need paint and carpet, and most of them need the plumbing fixed.

Are Many HUD Homes “Overpriced”

The large majority of HUD houses is priced correctly. This means that their as-is value considers the condition of the property and the fact that it is government owned.

That’s why so many HUD homes sell within 10 days. And quite a few ignite a bidding war that leads to contracts above list price.

But sometimes, HUD’s pricing strategy does not make any sense at all.

When HUD’s Price is Wrong

Take a look at the picture at the top of this post. It’s a HUD listing in Fredericktown (40 miles NE of Columbus). It needs a lot of work, and it is totally overpriced. Not a good way to attract potential buyers.

While most HUD homes sell quickly, this one has been sitting on the market without a single showing and price reduction since it was listed.

You are probably wondering, how HUD came up with the list price.

The list price is the as-is value of the home. It is determined by an FHA appraiser!

HUD does not consider the valuation (BPO) of the listing agent when a home hits the market. Their guidelines state that the initial list price must be the appraised value. If the appraiser gets it wrong, the house will sit on the market for a while, before the asset manager reduces its price (usually after 30 days of no activity).

Why This is Good News

After a while HUD becomes a very motivated seller. They don’t want to keep these properties in their inventory for long. Typically, they lower the price after 30 or 60 days, and accept much lower offers.

These “overpriced” HUD homes offer excellent opportunities for local investors or owner occupant buyers. Especially for those, who pay all cash.

A real estate agent experienced with HUD properties, can tell you when the time is right to submit an offer. The agent can also recommend how low you should go.

Honestly, no offer is too low.

If there’s no competition from other buyers, keep submitting your low bid. There’s a good chance that HUD will accept it sooner or later.

With an ever dwindling supply of HUD homes in Columbus and the low inventory of homes for sale in general, you probably ask yourself: Can I still get discounts when I submit an offer to HUD?

The answer is a definite YES!

However, you won’t be able to get large discounts on every single home. Sometimes, you even have to pay more than asking price.

There is no formula to predict how much HUD will accept. So, I decided to research recent HUD home sales and show you, what kinds of offers HUD accepted this summer (2012).

I picked 8 recent sales that show a variety of offers HUD has accepted. Most buyers were able to get a nice discount off the list price. However, 2 of these homes sold well above asking price.

Take a look at the table below. It shows the street address of the homes I picked. Next you can see the original list price. That’s the “as-is, FHA appraised” value. Just beside is the sale price of the specific HUD home.

The Days column indicates the total number of days from the first listing until the home went in contract with the ultimate buyer. During this period the house may have been in contract multiple times, it may even have been withdrawn and relisted at a later date. It indicates the total time HUD had to wait from when they made a home available for purchase until it went in contract. It does not include the period from contract to closing which usually adds another 30 to 45 days to the process.

Finally, we calculated the total Discount HUD accepted relative to the initial list price.

We did not include the condition of the properties in this table. Robinwood and Fabyan were uninsured (UN), while all other homes were either insured or came with a small repair escrow.

I am going to pick two of these homes and explain, why I believe HUD accepted a huge discount or received more than they asked for.

Historic Condo with Huge Monthly Association Fee – 59% Discount

The HUD condo on 1798 E Broad St is located in the Olde Towne East neighborhood just South of Franklin Park. This 4 story townhouse was in good condition, FHA insured, and had plenty of unique features (such as a slate roof and copper gutters).

Unfortunately, it came with a $700 per month condo fee. A large part of this fee pays down a rehab loan the association took to replace roof and gutters. It was only temporary.

Originally, the condo was listed for $170,000. That was too high. The retail value of these units is around $140K.

It could not be sold despite multiple price reductions. Finally, HUD relisted the condo and it was gobbled up by a cash investor for $70,000. That’s a huge discount which gives the buyer more than enough equity to rehab the condo and resell it near retail value.

Owner Occupant Bidding War – 20% Above List Price

HUD homes that are priced at a discount relative to their true market value attract a lot of attention, especially, those located in a suburb.  The house at 64 W. Fieldstone in Etna is the perfect example.

During the initial 10 days it had many showings, and multiple offers were submitted to HUD before the 10-day deadline. A bidding war erupted, and the successful buyer offered 20% more than list price for the home.

Fieldstone was listed for only 10 days and immediately went in contract on day 11 for $85,500. Although the buyer paid more than list price, he still got a good deal. I estimate that the true market value of this home is above $100,000.

If you overbid on a HUD home, you may run into a problem with FHA financing. The HUD appraised value (which is the list price of $71,000 in the case of Fieldstone) is the basis for the purchase loan. The amount above the list price ($14,500) had to be paid in cash by the buyer.

Many buyers and their real estate agents do not know this. Quite a few HUD homes fall out of contract, because the buyers do not have enough money to cover the difference in cash at closing.

What’s the Best Bidding Strategy for HUD Homes in 2012?

If you want to get a great deal, you have to be patient. Look at the homes that have been on the market for more than 30 days, or that fell out of contract previously.

The longer a property was listed, the more motivated the seller is. If a HUD house does not generate offers after multiple price reductions, or it falls out of contract repeatedly, HUD will take low ball offers!

Let us help you develop a winning bidding strategy, so that you never overpay for a HUD house! Fill out the Find an Agent form at the top-right of this page to connect with one of the most experienced HUD realtors in Columbus!

As we enter the second half of 2012 the housing market has turned around. Columbus home sales jumped by 18% in June (as compared to a year ago). What’s even more exciting for sellers is the fact that the median sales price increased by 15% to $155,000.  Pending contracts are up by a staggering 58%, and the inventory of homes listed for sale has dropped by 33%.

Columbus is not alone when it comes to a housing recovery.

The Wall Street Journal declared that the US Housing Bust is Over. Their article and charts present convincing data that show how the market has turned around.

Are There Still Any Good Buying Opportunities?

As you are looking at the improving housing market, you may wonder, if there are still deals out there.

Let me assure you that you did not miss the boat, yet. However, you will have to hurry up, as there is increased competition for cheap properties. The overall inventory of foreclosed homes is shrinking quickly.

Do not count on the mystical Shadow Inventory flooding the market and spoiling the recovery. There are 3 reasons why it won’t happen:

1. Banks are still dragging their feet when it comes to foreclosing on delinquent home owners. The Federal mortgage settlement made lenders even more gun-shy. When it comes to distressed properties, some banks do not foreclose at all.
2.  Institutional investors and equity funds are buying up huge blocks of defaulted loans.  Many of these loans will not be foreclosed on. Most are directly purchased by real estate investors.
3. HUD homes and other government owned properties are being sold in bulk to investors who will convert them into rentals. It appears this gives mortgage servicers something to do, as they lost so many loans to manage.

Where Are Government Owned Homes Located?

The number of government owned REOs is pretty small in Columbus, as compared to States such as Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida. On the graphic below you can see where most government owned homes are located. It shows the number of REOs per 10,000 housing units.

Click on the map to read an article on Trulia about the government’s plan to convert a large number of their properties into rentals.

Now let’s have a look at government owned properties for sale in Central Ohio and compare July 2012 to January 2012. You can clearly see that HUD and Freddie Mac listings stayed the same, while Fannie Mae’s listings have increased by 50% since the beginning of the year.

Fannie Mae is definitely not flooding the market with cheap REOs. Their total package of 350 homes for sale is merely 3% of the Central Ohio real estate market.

Fannie Mae homes are usually listed at market value, and you can’t get much of a discount from this organization. Adding more Fannie Mae listings will not affect home values in Columbus.

HUD Listings per County July 14, 12 (Jan 2, 2012)

The first number following the county name represents listings on July 14, 2012, while the number in brackets refers to January 2, 2012.

Franklin County: 56 (52)
Delaware County: 6 (4)
Licking County: 3 (6)
Fairfield County:  3 (6)
Pickaway County: 2 (1)
Madison County: 1 (2)
Union County: 1 (0)
TOTAL Number of Central Ohio HUD Listings: 72 (71)(209 at mid-April 2011, 164 mid-May 2011, 111 mid-July)

Fannie Mae

Franklin County: 225 (162)
Delaware County: 28 (10)
Licking County: 38 (15)
Fairfield County: 31 (26)
Pickaway County: 7 (7)
Madison County: 9 (7)
Union County: 9 (6)
TOTAL: 347 (233)

Freddie Mac

Franklin County: 63 (73)
Delaware County: 6 (5)
Licking County: 14 (6)
Fairfield County: 12 (8)
Pickaway County: 0 (1)
Madison County: 1 (6)
Union County: 3 (6)
TOTAL: 99 (105)

According to a report by RealtyTrac, Columbus is one of the 10 best places in the country to buy foreclosures.

We all know that Columbus has its share of foreclosed homes. Investors from all over the country are attracted to Central Ohio real estate due to the great cash flow single family homes yield to landlords.

So, how did RealtyTrac come up with this ranking? And how do their data compare to the information published by the Columbus Board of Realtors?

RealtyTrac is a well-known foreclosure tracking service. They publish foreclosure statistics for all states, cities and counties, and offer the most comprehensive list of foreclosed real estate anywhere in the US. RealtyTrac is a subscription-based service. At rates of more than $50 a month, it may see expensive for the casual user.

They publish lots of free information anyone can use, such as sales stats for all 50 states in their Stats and Trends section.

How are Cities Ranked?

The best cities to buy foreclosures are ranked by the discount of the average foreclosure sale as compared to the average home sale in that metro area. The higher the discount, the better the ranking. RealtyTrac only included the 100 largest metro areas with at least 200 foreclosure-related sales in January 2012.

The number one place goes to Kansas City, MO, where the average discount of foreclosures is 51%.

Overall, Kansas City home sales increased by 14% in March (year to year) and prices were up 3%. 29% of all home sales are foreclosures.

Foreclosure deals are not limited to the Midwest. You may be surprised to find that Boston was second on this list, and San Francisco was fifth.

Columbus Ranks Number 10

Columbus ended up at 10th place with an average discount of 32%.

According to this report, the typical foreclosed home sells for $98,223 in Columbus. This is much higher than the average HUD home price of around $77,000. However, it is 3% less than a year ago.

Now let’s compare these numbers to the data we find on the local MLS.

In March 2012 the average sales price of all Columbus homes was $153,557, up 6.5% from a year ago. According to this info the discount would actually be 36%!

Why Do Investors Complain?

Whether you are an investor or an owner occupant buyer, this ranking promises excellent home deals in Columbus.

There’s just one caveat. The selection of homes for sale is very limited.

Over the past 12 months the number of homes listed for sale dropped by more than 30%. Currently, the inventory is at an 8 year low. This means more competition and fewer homes to choose from. Some people even talk of a housing shortage.

If you are an investor looking for a good deal, you have to be patient. Cheap houses are on the market, but most of them need a  lot of work. The selection of good quality foreclosed homes is very limited.

With an increasing demand for new homes, record low interest rates, and a depleted inventory, home values will continue to rise this year. Now is still the best time to buy real estate in Columbus!

Isn’t it tempting? Look at this large, upscale home in one of the most prestigious suburbs of Columbus. HUD tries to sell it for less than 50% of its retail value. Who wouldn’t want to buy this bargain?

More than 15 prospective home buyers tried.

One after the other they submitted offers on this “bargain” deal. One after they other they dropped out. Some did not send in the paperwork, others could not get their loans approved.

Why can’t HUD sell such a great-looking home?  The listing agent received more calls on this property than any other HUD listing. It has been on the market since October 2011.

Why Do Buyers Drop Like Flies?

The reason is simple. This Powell HUD home is full of mold. When it was listed there was mold in the basement. Over the winter the mold spread to the first floor. And now, in spring, mold is everywhere. With no air circulation and high humidity caught inside the house, it will get even worse as temperatures begin to rise.

This house needs to be gutted to the studs – all 3 levels of it.

You can’t buy this Columbus home with bank financing. Lenders won’t even approve a 203k rehab loan.

Most potential buyers submit offers on this HUD home based on its low asking price. They assume that it “can’t be that bad.”

If they win their bid, they look at the house the first time, just to find out that it’s much worse than expected. Actually, the low asking price does not seem so low any more once you see the inside.

Disgusted by what they see, most buyers don’t submit the signed purchase contract – which is due 48 hours after you bid was accepted.

Quite a few owner occupant buyers got their bids accepted on this HUD house. Some even offered more than asking price. Every single time the bank turned them down. Lenders won’t finance properties with mold, even with rehab loans.

Why the HUD Bidding Process Breaks Down

A major reason why this house from hell is still on the market, after 8 months on the MLS and more than 15 accepted bids, is due to HUD’s bid acceptance procedure.

Whenever a buyer cancels their purchase contract on a HUD home (or does not submit the paperwork), the house has to be relisted. Even relisted HUD homes are exclusively available for owner occupants. In this case, the exclusive period is 5 days. After a few cancelled contracts HUD determined that this house is Uninsured and would not qualify for regular FHA financing.

Most of the time another owner occupant will bid and win during the exclusive period. As most owner occupants need bank financing, the devilish circle starts all over.  The buyer discovers that they overpaid for the condition of the house and that the bank won’t finance the deal.

This HUD home can only be closed by a cash buyer!

Unfortunately, HUD’s bid acceptance guidelines prefer owner occupant buyers over investors. They always accept the highest offer. And without fail, the highest offer is always contingent on bank financing.

If nobody closes on this property soon, this HUD home may become unsellable. HUD won’t get rid of it until they accept a cash offer. An offer that’s substantially below their list price.

Please don’t submit an offer on this property, before you see the inside! And don’t even try to get bank financing!

When a new HUD house is listed on the MLS, it is reserved exclusively for owner occupant buyers for the first 30 days. There’s an exception for HUD homes that need more than $5,000 in repairs. They are listed as Uninsured and become available to all bidders after just 5 days.

During the first 10 days HUD is collecting offers, but does not review them until day 11.

After the first 10 days, offers can be submitted daily and will be reviewed on the next business day by HUD.

This process becomes confusing, if the bid deadline falls on a weekend or holiday. HUD reviews offers only on business days. If the bid deadline falls on a Friday or Saturday, then HUD won’t look at your offer until Monday.

This is where it gets tricky.

Weekend Offers on HUD Homes

Let’s say you are interested in a HUD house and the bid deadline was Friday. Maybe you did not have a chance to look at the house until Sunday. You like it and ask your real estate agent to submit an offer on Sunday evening.

You can still see the property on the HUDHomeStore, so you assume it is still available. However, you do not know, if another buyer submitted a bid on the same house before the deadline on Friday evening.

As HUD does not look at offers until the next business day, the HUDHomeStore will not get updated on weekends. Therefore, you do not know, if there is another contract ahead of you from an earlier bid period that is acceptable to HUD.

On Monday, or the next business day, HUD will first look at the offers submitted on Friday. If they can find an acceptable offer, they will take it. The bids submitted on Saturday or Sunday will not be considered in that case.

You will not know until around 2 or 3 pm on Monday, whether someone else got the property.

Most people get confused by the fact, that the HUDHomeStore is not updated weekends. A HUD property may still appear on the website, although an acceptable offer was received.

That’s why HUD added a disclosure on their website, saying that properties are available  “subject to the Asset Manager accepting a bid from an earlier bid period”.

How Should You Deal With Weekend Deadlines?

Submit your offer!

Someone may be ahead of you, and they may get the deal. You won’t know until Monday afternoon. If you do not submit your bid on Sunday, however, you will lose another day and someone else may get ahead of you.

This is especially true, if the exclusive bid deadline for owner occupants expires over the weekend, and the HUD house becomes available to investors.

HUD homes that did not sell for 30 days to owner occupants are either too expensive or need a lot of work. They become prime targets for investors. So, you should expect that an investor will submit an offer, as soon as the deadline expires.

Don’t let weekend bid deadlines confuse you! Submit your offer as soon and as quickly as you can.

HUD will sell any listing to the first acceptable offer. Get in line and you will succeed.

Is HUD getting ready to release their “shadow inventory” or are they just taking advantage of the turn-around in the housing market?

Last week we saw a substantial increase in the number of new assignments from HUD’s asset managers. Every day new inspection notices came in to local HUD listing brokers to prepare HUD properties for sale. This comes after a virtual standstill in HUD listings since the beginning of the year.

You won’t see new listings on the HUDhomestore until mid-April. But they are in the pipeline, and they will hit the market soon. A welcome boost after a drought of almost 9 months.

Will HUD Flood the Market with Cheap Foreclosures?

I don’t think so.

I don’t believe HUD has enough homes in their so-called “shadow inventory” to flood anything or impact the local real estate market.

There were not enough HUD homes available for all the buyers looking for great deals. The general inventory of MLS listings is at a 10 year low. It definitely makes sense for HUD to increase their share of homes sales pool in Columbus.

Why HUD Homes will Sell Quickly

There are many reasons why HUD homes will sell quickly. Many will receive more than one offer and even sell above asking price.

Spring is the best time of the year to sell any home. With low interest rates and an increasing number of buyers looking for a home, prices have started to increase. This is a perfect opportunity for HUD to cash in on their remaining inventory.

Here are the listing stats of Columbus HUD homes as of the end of March 2012. There are only 74 HUD homes available in Franklin and surrounding counties (only 45 in Franklin County).

Franklin  45
Delaware  7
Licking  9
Fairfield  8
Pickaway  0
Madison  1
Union  4
TOTAL  74

Update: In the past 5 days more than 50 new HUD homes were listed in Ohio, that’s a 10% increase from a week ago.

The Columbus Board of Realtors reports a strong start of the year with both home sales and home prices increasing more than 5% as compared to a year ago. They also report that the inventory of homes for sale is down by 30% from last year. A clear sign that we are on our way to a new sellers market.

Where do you Find the Best Deals?

Blacklick, Galloway and Grove City have the most HUD homes for sale in Central Ohio. Many of these homes are in good condition and listed as insured or insured with escrow. This means they will most likely be purchased by owner occupants.

Only 35% of all HUD listings are available for investors, many of them are uninsured.

As the overall inventory of MLS listing has also shrunk to 11,000 (a 10 year low), new HUD listings are a welcome addition to the improving Columbus real estate market.

Get ready to submit your offer! The HUD inventory will improve soon!

Despite HUD’s preference of owner occupant buyers and long, exclusive listing periods, HUD homes are hands down the best deals for real estate investors. Recent closings have shown that some investors get low ball HUD home offers accepted on a regular basis. Many HUD houses sell to non-owner occupant buyers at substantial discounts just 30 days after hitting the market.

Let’s look at an example. The HUD house on Yagger Bay Drive in Hilliard OH, just went in contract for $107,551. It was listed for 30 days at $154,200. The list price was too high, therefore, the house did not get a single offer from owner occupants and became available to all bidders after 30 days.

After the exclusive listing period expired, an investor came in with an offer that was less than 70% of the list price. The list price of HUD homes is identical to their as-is appraised value. His offer was accepted immediately.

After only 30 days on the market investors can buy HUD properties at a discount of 30%!

What’s a Good Bidding Strategy for Investors?

A good strategy for investors is to track HUD homes that sit on the market for more than 25 days. If these Columbus houses didn’t get an offer by owner occupants, HUD will very likely accept a reasonable investor bid.

What’s reasonable?

It depends. 60% to 70% of the as-is value is usually a reasonable offer. HUD will look at the internal BPO the listing broker submitted to HUD before the home was listed. If this BPO is in line with your offer, HUD will likely accept it.

Initially, HUD must list any property for its as-is appraised value. That’s the value an FHA appraiser assigns to the house. Depending on the appraiser, who may not have as much experience as the listing agent, that value might be too high. If that happens, you end up with an overpriced listing that won’t attract any offers.

On the other hand, if the appraised value and the initial listing price are too low, you will see a stampede of owner occupants submit bids. This typically results in a bidding war and a final contract price that’s higher than the list price.

Investors don’t have a chance to get in on under-priced HUD properties. They will always be snapped up by an owner occupant.

A Surprising Strategy for Real Estate Investors

This may seem like an oxymoron, but investors stand a better chance to win a low ball bid on a HUD home that’s overpriced than one that’s listed below market value.

If you are an investor, I recommend you look at HUD homes that seem expensive. Watch them for 25 days to see, if an owner occupant submits an offer. If a HUD house is still on the market on day 25, it’s time to take a closer look. If the house meets your criteria, get ready to submit an offer around 35% below list price. It has to be submitted on day 30 or other investors will beat you to the deal.

What About Other Government Owned Properties?

It appears that neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac accept aggressive offers within 30 days. Their discounts are rather marginal and not good enough for investors.

Many bank-owned properties are overpriced. Most banks will look at lower offers, however, by overpricing their REOs at they probably scare away most investors.

If you want to work with an agent that can help you win these competitive investor offers, please submit the form to the right. We will get back to you quickly.

Condominium developments are very uniform. Most units are similar or even identical. This is part of their appeal. A well designed village makes tenants and owners feel at home, and guarantees a high quality of life.

Lifestyle Communities is the master of building townhome-style condominiums at an affordable price. Their developments are scattered all over Central Ohio suburbs. Lifestyle condos come with features, such as fitness clubs, swimming pools, volleyball courts, and some of their villages even feature a pub.
With so many Lifestyle condos around, it’s no surprise that we found 2 almost identical condominiums available for sale. Both are end units, come with 2 bedrooms, and have a similar asking price.

The first one is located at Preserve Crossing off Morse Road in the Gahanna area. It comes with a garage. It is HUD-owned and needs cosmetic improvements. However, it is listed as insured, so you will be able to buy it with FHA financing.

The other condo is located at Hayden Falls in the Dublin/Hilliard area. This one has been completely remodeled and is in pristine condition, ready for you and your family!

As you can see from our pictures, the two condos are almost identical. It may surprise you that the HUD condo, that needs a little bit of work, is listed for $8,000 more than the Dublin townhouse that has already been upgraded.

Preserve Crossing is a more expensive neighborhood. Lifestyle condos for sale start at $110K and go up to $150K. They all come with garages.

Hayden Falls condos on  the other hand start at $100K and go up to $130K.

Compare 2 Condominiums for Sale

3879 Preserve Crossing Blvd, Columbus OH
Asking Price: $106,000
Year Built: 2006
Sq Footage: 1,190
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms 1/1

HUD owned, FHA insured.

5537 Bow Falls Blvd, Dublin OH
Asking Price: $98,750
Year Built: 2005
Sq Footage: 1,280
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms 1/1
Schools: Columbus

Private Sale - Many Upgrades!

Which of the 2 Condos would you Pick?

You probably know that condos are harder to sell than single family homes. That’s why Lifestyle rents some of their units, in addition to offering them for sale. You can rent similar townhomes from Lifestyle between $1,000 and $1,200 per month, dependent on its exact size and whether you get a garage.

You will pay less for a mortgage, if you decide to buy. At current interest rates (4%) the monthly payment on a $100,000 condo (including taxes and insurance) should run you $600 to $650 a month. So that’s a significant savings off the rent.

To be fair you may have to add $100 for condominium fees, if you buy. But you will still save at least $300 per month, or $3,600 per year.

If you want to see one of these condos, simply click on the pictures. They are linked to the property website with the listing agent’s phone number.  You can also submit your information in the box to the right, and an experienced real estate agent will get back to you promptly!