With the status of the economy today, and the falling prices of homes many people are selling their homes, or forclosing. Several friends have recently sold their homes and are renting now, or buying more reasonably priced homes. They have taken considerable losses, or at best broken even.

HUD homes will be flooding the market and can usually be found at a fraction of the value of the home. Many of these homes are in very good condition and of course the least expensive of the homes will need considerable repair. This is great if you like a fixer upper. It also gives you the greatest value. Sweat equity is like gold.

When we bought our home we went in with nearly $40,000 equity. The cost was so low that we were able to finance it for 10 years. It was perfect for us in our late 40's and wanting to have it paid for by retirement time. Not to mention, we have a very affordable mortgage payment.

Know that when you are buying a HUD home it is very important to have a realtor that is experienced is the purchase of HUD homes.

We applied for our first HUD home, won the bid and had out financing in place. The inspections had been done and we were waiting for the realtor to give us the go ahead for the loan. We had given her $1000 for earnest money.

One day I checked the site the home was on and noticed the it was sold. The realtor did not submit the earnest money on time and we had to forfeit it. Not only that, the home had been put back on the list and sold before we even knew there was a problem.

We did not get our $1000 back, and later discovered that this realtor was operating under a suspended license.

Luckily for us, we found another home that we love and can count the other experience as a blessing.

If you are going to buy a HUD home, know the process and find an experienced realtor. You can find your dream home at a fraction of the cost.