HUD Web site offers plethora of properties

None of which, unfortunately, are in San Francisco...

From today's Chronicle Real Estate section, "Whether you're a first-time home buyer, an investor, vacation property buyer, historic preservation buff -- or even if you are looking for a boat to convert into a live-aboard residence -- you are not shopping the market to the max unless you check out the federal government's best real estate resources: the combined property disposition program inventories of 10 agencies, all rolled into one online access point."

"The offerings change daily, the realty sales hype is refreshingly restrained, and the caveats plentiful when you browse through the properties available from the Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Small Business Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Each of these agencies ends up with unwanted real estate through its own specialized activities. HUD, VA, SBA and the Agriculture Department foreclose on some of the properties they insure or finance. Customs, the IRS and U.S. Marshals Service seize properties for nonpayment of taxes or criminal violations and then sell them on the open market."

"Now there's an easy way to check out the bulging portfolios of these agencies 24/7. Go to HUD's real estate site -- www.hud.gov/homes/homesforsale.cfm -- and then link into any of the government agencies' separate offerings. The links also connect you to congressionally chartered Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae's property disposition sites. HUD's own portfolio tends to be the largest of the federal government and represents the most productive resource for anyone shopping for moderate cost houses to live in or renovate as an investment."

"For example, the IRS' site offers houses for sale in some delightful getaway locations. How about a quaint six-bedroom, four-unit multifamily New England frame house in scenic Brattleboro, Vt.? In a visit to the Web site in early February, the property was heading for auction March 2 with a minimum bid of $41,589. Like all the government property disposition Web sites, there's virtually none of the typical real estate agent hype. No "fabulous view" no "huge backyards" no "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities."