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A famed anthropologist Dr Louis Leakey once said “Observe and be alert. It is the first rule of science. It is also the first rule of survival.” I might add this is key to successfully buying a HUD property in today’s market. Inventory is tight in our area, initially giving sellers the upper hand. I recommend going to HUDHomestore.com. Key on the appropriate state. Go to the desired county and pull up that county. Each HUD property will have a HUD Case number, beginning with 481-. Key on the case Number. You will see on the next page a section labeled “Addendums”. Key “Addendums”.  These are the seller disclosures. The most important is the Property Condition Report, PCR. This report will disclose functionality of several items. I suggest showing this to your lender if you require financing to purchase this property. It may dictate the type of financing, e.g., conventional loan vs. a FHA insured loan with a repair escrow. Having the proper financing for the initial offer input will result in reduced changes to the contract…and hopefully a need for contract extensions. The “Addendum” section will also contain the MPR (repairs and repair estimate costs) and the ECR Report. As we all are part of a team, please print these disclosures for your information and your lender. I do not know of any other seller who provides this type of information. I consider this “gold”, and I know this will assist you in deciding how to pursue obtaining the better financing to lead to a successful closing.