Donation
MSRlaw,
The way it works, as I understand it, is that banks donate houses to HFOT in order to write off the value of the home as a tax deductible contribution to charity. There are no dollar amounts discussed with the recipient (although it seems reasonable for the recipient to investigate via Trulia or Zillow in order to have an estimate). HFOT alerts its eligible, waiting recipients via email of all the houses that become available in the region in which they are interested in looking. The recipient will respond to the houses they want to visit, and the recipient is responsible for traveling to the house in order to see it firsthand. In my case, we were offered several houses (around 5 or 6) before one became available in our hometown. Once a recipient has agreed to a specific house, HFOT and the bank (Bank of America in my case) have a VA home inspector come out and inspect the house, and the bank pays to renovate the house to get it in move-in ready condition. My house had a new water heater installed, new carpet and flooring throughout, new light fixtures, the house was painted interior and exterior, they installed a sprinkler system and sodded, landscaped the front yard, replaced the roof, and bought a new refrigerator, washer and dryer, dishwasher, and microwave. I'm sure there are other things that they did that I'm leaving out, but the gist is that I can't say enough how much they did for us. Our only commitment in order to be given this house is to agree to live in the house for 3 years, and to pay the taxes and insurance on the property. It's pretty amazing. Please PM me if you'd like to know more. I want to get the word out about this amazing opportunity.
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