Fannie Mae is currently offering special deals on foreclosed property purchases through their Home Path and First Look programs. Fannie Mae’s programs give priority to buyers (especially first-time buyers) who are looking to purchase a home to live in, not rent. Investors who intend to rent out or sell the properties are forced wait 20-30 days to participate in these sales.
First a little history. Fannie Mae (and sister company Freddie Mac) are the largest buyers of loans from mortgage lenders in the U.S. Both companies were taken over by the government during the recent financial crisis because of massive losses due to declining real estate prices. Both Fannie and Freddie still have many foreclosures on their books – at the end of 2013 Fannie had over 103,000 homes in its inventory. These are all homes that are REOs, (real estate owned) that were foreclosed on. The Home Path and First Look programs are a way to try to sell off these properties while promoting home ownership.
Both programs give owner-occupant buyers a chance to buy properties without having to compete with all-cash investors. These investors have been snapping up tens of thousands of properties in recent years.
Fannie Mae’s First Look program allows buyers who intend to occupy the property to bid and purchase foreclosed properties before they are made available to investors. This First Look is typically for the first 20 days that the property is listed on the HomePath.com website. Nevada has a 30 day window.
Eligible buyers during First Look are owner occupants, public entities and their partners, and some non profits. All buyers must agree to live in or maintain occupancy for at least 1 year.
Fannie Mae is offering up to a 3.5% closing cost incentive for owner-occupant buyers who request the incentive at their initial offer during the First Look period, purchase a HomePath property in select states on or before April 30, and close on or before June 30, 2014.
To be eligible for this incentive:
If you are looking to buy a home, this could be a great incentive to do so. But don’t delay, the April 30th deadline is approaching fast!
Further information and details are available at the HomePath website at:
http://www.homepath.com/incentives.html
Leave a Reply