As you drive around your city wherever it may be you may come across a home that someone started to build a year or two ago and just was unable to complete it for some reason. They may have run out of money or gone bankrupt during the course of construction. Whatever the reason the home has been sitting partially finished for quite a while. I found this one yesterday... 
... not good for the house or the neighborhood.
The dog met me at the gate but she was very calm and polite. The garage has the appearance that someone might be around so I spoke out and sure enough a woman came out of the home.
The question is 1) can this be finished? Answer is "Yes"
2) can it be finished with the FHA 203k loan program? Answer is "maybe" but we need to find out a bit more.
I did see the garage open and it clearly is more than a year old. The FHA guideline says the structure must have had a certificate of occupancy at least one year prior to doing the 203k loan. I felt like the house had been there for at least a year in this condition, there was someone living in the home, or at least staying in the home. It also appears there may have been another home on the site before this one so there is a good possibility that the 203k loan program might work here.
3) Are there any other renovation products that might complete this home? Answer is "Yes" again. We might use the Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan program to finish this home. If you have one like this give us a call and we'll ask a few more questions but the possibilities are endless. The nice thing about this loan program is we can even add a swimming pool if it is needed where the FHA product is limited to $1500 in repairs to a "luxury item" which a pool is considered. Don't forget that this program is also open to investors and second homes.
In any case we can likely find a program that will suffice and get this home completed. BTW, I did leave my card and the lady indicated she would pass it along to her son as he was about to get working on the home again to complete it. Just a side note, I know of two other homes in this condition right now that have been sitting for years. In some cases we may have to replace that sheathing if it gets too weathered. We just finished one like this that had plastic wrap all around to protect it from the weather. Here it is as we found it...
This home had the plastic to save the sheathing which made a lot of sense. You need to be able to see the home in your minds eye as if it was completed. 
