HUD just released a new mapping tool. It displays all homes for sale by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD on a Google Map. Now you can find all government owned houses for sale on a single website.

The so-called REO Portal was developed for “neighborhood stabilizers” to help them find properties from all 3 agencies in a consolidated map.

The good news is, that the portal is open to the public, not just to government agencies and non-profits who are supposed to buy and rehab properties in depressed areas.

The mapping tool is pretty easy to use.

When you opent the HUD Portal Website it displays a map of the United States. You can enter a street address, a city and state, or select your state and county from a pull-down menu to get to the area you are interested in. The map zooms to the city or county you selected. You can see property markers that indicate the locations of homes for sale once you hit Zoom Level 11 or larger.

The icons for the 3 organizations are shown as:

• FHA – HUD homes
• FRE – Freddie Mac homes
• FNM – Fannie Mae homes

When you click on one of these icons, a pop-up will appear. Sometimes the pop-up shows in the left upper corner of the web page, so you may have to scroll all the way to the top of the page to see it. Dependent on the type of property you will see information about the property, such as, list price, address, agent information and a link to the listing.

On Fannie Mae listings the link goes directly to the individual listing page on Homepath, Freddie Mac listings end up at the general Homesteps page, and HUD listings link directly to the listing page at the HUDHomeStore.

Although the instructions say that you need to register to use the system, it works fine without logging in.

A sign-up is necessary, if you want to create projects. Registration is easy and immediate. It requires a valid email as the username, your name and a password. There’s no confirmation. You can log in right away.

Once logged in, you can draw outlines of areas of interest and save them as “projects”. They will email you a list of properties inside the project area in a spreadsheet, as well as statistical information about the area.

The REO Portal is a nice tool that helps home buyers find government owned real estate easier. Unfortunately, it still lacks the functionality a buyer would expect when searching for a home, such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the price range, and square footage you are looking for. Currently, there is no functionality like that available.

We already explained two easy ways to explore Columbus Houses from your computer: Google Streetview, which gives you street level pictures homes, businesses and the roadway in general, and Microsoft Live’s Bird’s Eye View, which allows you to see Columbus HUD Homes from above.

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