REGULATIONS: HUD Extends Anti-Flipping Waiver Yet Again

But don't go crazy, buyers still have to meet waiver conditions.

Want to purchase a property for the sole purpose of fixing it up and reselling it? The Department of Housing and Urban Development has good news for you.

Before the housing market bottomed out and neighborhoods became ghost towns, HUD made it impossible to insure a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for fewer than 90 days. "However, thanks to a dearth of affordable housing units and high fore closure activity, HUD has extendedits anti-flipping waiver through the end of the year," says Candi Atkins, a housing expert based in Las Vegas.

Background: Property flipping is the practice of purchasing a property at low cost and then quickly improving that property for sale at a much higher profit. The problem is that many "flippers" make only cosmetic improvements to the property and then work with lenders to artificially inflate the property's value. To protect homeowners from these predatory practices, HUD banned flipping in 2003.

HUD Uses Waiver As A Weapon Against Blight