FHA 203k Officer Next Door program Idyllwild to San Francisco

50% discount off the appraised value for Police Officers, Firemen, and EMT officers on HUD homes. 

Police Officers, Firemen, and EMT officers are in charge of keeping our streets safe and helping our citizens. The FHA 203k Officer Next Door program was designed to help Police Officers, Firemen, and EMT officers in targeted neighborhoods who purchase HUD foreclosed homes at a discount. There are a number of "low down payment" properties and other fixers that are HUD owned and they all have appraisals on them to identify the "as is" value for the properties. This is typically for full time Police Officers, Firemen, and EMT officers.

The point is that we want these cars and uniforms coming through the neighborhoods at odd hours and that alone has can be a deterrent to crime. Many officers live outside the community they serve and that is okay too.

Beware of bidding too high for a HUD foreclosed home. Example: If the home appraised for $300,000 and you think that you are going to get it for a large discount so you bid it up to $350,000 to be sure to get it... oops, not, for every dollar you bid over the appraised value you will have to add that difference to your down payment. Instead of coming in with 3.5% you have to pay $50,000 + 3.5% down payment. Therefore "DON'T DO IT". What I would suggest is that you do bid over the asking price but with pocket change. $10, $50, $100, something that won't break you and still puts you above most buyers. 

Where do you find these properties? First you merely find a Realtor who deals with HUD properties and knows their way around that end of it to make your offer. It must come from an Agent or Broker. The original idea was that these homes had to be in targeted areas, Community Redevelopment Identified Areas. Be sure the property you are looking at qualifies for the Officer Next Door program. Your local lender can tell you more about this program and likely provide you with a Realtor who can help you with your offer. If you have a problem finding one try Tim Floyd with Prospect Mortgage.

Agents selling these should build your commission in on the buyers side as these home don't get seller paid commissions from what I hear.

Oh, these are also availble for the FHA 203k program so you can get low interest money to fix them up too. That part isn't discounted however. Ed can explain more about this aspect of the program and he makes loans all over the USA.