Fannie Mae has once again upped the ante to encourage buyers to purchase and real estate agents to market its REO properties. To get inventory moving faster, Fannie Mae has come out this week with new incentives that will be offered through their HomePath program. For example they are offering buyers 3.5% towards closing costs and an extra bonus of $1500 to real estate agents for any HomePath properties that sell by December 31st.  

 

What is HomePath?

 

Fannie Mae markets its REO through a program called HomePath properties. HomePath was created to facilitate the purchase of the bulk of REO properties currently serviced/guaranteed by Fannie Mae. It is estimated that Fannie and Freddie own a combined 191,000 properties taken through foreclosure. Their goal is to offload and sell these properties as quickly as possible in order to minimize the impact on the community. According to Terry Edwards an Executive Vice President at Fannie Mae, “more than 87,000 families have purchased HomePath properties in the first half of 2010-nearly double the number of Fannie Mae foreclosed properties sold in the first half of 2009”. 

 

 

New HomePath incentives for buyers and agents

Under the New HomePath Incentive Program, buyers that buy a HomePath Property between now and the end of the year can receive up to 3.5 percent of the purchase price in closing cost assistance. The funds can also be used to purchase a home warranty. Properties bought from pools, at auction, or by investors are not eligible. The sale must close within 60 days of acceptance of the offer and no later than December 31, 2010. The incentive must be requested in the initial offer.

 

HomePath properties are generally marketed through real estate agents and any selling agent representing a buyer occupant who purchases a property that closes by December 31 will receive, in addition to the agreed commission, a $1,500 bonus. The agent must request the bonus when submitting the initial offer.

 

 

HomePath Financing and who qualifies?

• As little as 3% down for owner occupied properties
• As little as 15% down for investment properties
• No Mortgage Insurance
• No appraisal needed-value determined by sales price 

 

HomePath Properties are also eligible for HomePath mortgage financing. It is a loan program offered by Fannie Mae that offers special financing on foreclosed properties already owned by Fannie Mae. These loans have down payments as low as 3 percent which can be funded by a gift, do NOT require mortgage insurance, and carry flexible mortgage terms including lower credit requirements. There are also NO appraisals required on Home Path properties either.

 

These loans are also available to investors, lenders are offering financing on HomePath properties up to 85% without MI. Compare this to a regular conventional loan on an investment property where most lenders now require a down payment of 20-25%.

 

How to get approved to offer HomePath 

 

If you are interested in becoming an approved HomePath listing agent or need some HomePath marketing material, go to www.homepath.com or click on the following link Homepath Info for more information. 

 

 

High Cost Loan Limits Increased for one more year

 

Congress last week passed a new bill that will extend current loan limits for mortgages provided through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA. This will ensure that current loan limits for single-family residential mortgages will remain in place until September 30, 2011 at 125% of local median home sales prices, up to a maximum of $729,750 in high-cost areas. San Diego will remain at $697,500. Outside of those high-cost areas, the ceiling for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s conforming loan limits is $417,000. 

 

The current limits have been a key component of keeping the mortgage market functioning, helping keep mortgage interest rates low for consumers who want to purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage. I am glad that congress extended this bill, because with private funding virtually non-existent, home sales in higher cost areas would be badly hurt and the housing recovery slowed if Fannie Mae or FHA guarantees were not available as a substitute for jumbo mortgages. 

 

We are approved with several lenders that offer HomePath financing. So if you are interested in getting more information or getting approved for a HomePath loan, please feel free to contact me directly at 858-200-9602 and I can help you. I look forward to chatting soon.

 

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Tags: Fannie Mae foreclosures, HomePath properties, New Fannie Mae incentives

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Fannie Mae Offers New Bonuses to Agents & Buyers to Purchase Foreclosures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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