HUD offers $1 fixer-upper house in Atlanta

ATLANTA, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Federal housing officials in Atlanta say they have a foreclosed home on the market they are willing to sell for $1.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the bargain dwelling is only available to a local government agency that is looking to convert it to an affordable-housing unit.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Wednesday that HUD has been flooded with foreclosed homes in recent months, but has also seen increased interest nationwide in governments looking to but new housing stock at rock-bottom prices.

HUD takes over the homes when the owners default on mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Authority and HUD ownership of such homes grew 39 percent between September 2007 and 2008.

The homes are often bought by a government agency, refurbished and then sold at a reasonable price to the public. The $1 home currently on the market is a three-bedroom property built in the 1920s with vinyl siding, but was stripped of its plumbing, wiring and fixtures by thieves.