Fannie Mae requires that you must not have held any type of homeownership in the last 3 years to qualify as a first-time buyer. You must also plan to use your HomePath home as a primary residence, and you need to move into the property in a timely manner, legally, within 60 days of closing.
Fannie Mae does not directly sell homes; it only sell homes through real estate brokers. Fannie Mae lists its homes on a Web site called Homepath.com.
First Look™ is an initiative that gives homebuyers, public entities, and some non-profits an early opportunity to negotiate and purchase Fannie Mae-owned properties. When the First Look marketing window closes, investors can make an offer.
Yes a Fannie Mae property can be purchased with cash. You will need to submit proof of funds with the offer. This can be a bank statement or a letter drafted on bank letterhead and signed by a bank official.
You can negotiate a Fannie Mae home by making an offer, but as with any home purchase contract, you may lose out to someone who is willing to pay more.
How do you qualify for a Fannie Mae HomePath property? In order to qualify for a HomePath home with the 3% down payment and matching closing cost assistance, you can't have owned a house within the last 3 years and you're required to use the property within 60 days after closing as your primary residence.
Fannie Mae's HomeReady® and standard loan programs require only a 3% down payment for a single-family home. You can use your own funds or get a gift donation from a family member. To buy a second home or an investment property, you need a down payment of 10% and 20%, respectively. Credit score.
Fannie Mae is a mortgage guarantor, not a home seller. If Fannie Mae owns a home, it's because it was lost in foreclosure and the enterprise has already incurred expenses on it. Therefore, these houses are priced very competitively to help unload them quickly.
Our HomeReady mortgage does not require that borrowers be first-time home buyers. Fannie Mae standard transactions using 97% LTV financing, however, must have at least one borrower who is a first-time home buyer.
Closing cost assistance is paid by Fannie Mae, and delivered to your closing. In order to be eligible, buyers must only complete an online course on homeownership, pay a $75 fee (which is refunded in-full at closing), and print their education completion certificate for “the file”.
How Does Fannie Mae HomePath Work? HomePath is an online program through which you can purchase Fannie Mae-owned properties that are going to be foreclosed. Fannie Mae will acquire these properties by a deed-in-lieu—meaning that the homeowner voluntarily gives up ownership of their home to the mortgage company.
What is the difference between a Fannie Mae loan and a conventional loan? They are the same. Conventional loans are the mortgages purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
By purchasing mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enable lenders to make more loans. With more lending money available, consumers keep buying homes, and the real estate market stays afloat. In addition, these companies take worldwide investor money and place it into the US housing market.
The key comparisons of the loans are that a FHA loan has a lower credit score requirement that is lower to qualify and a 3.5 percent down payment which may be less than a Fannie Mae loan. The Fannie Mae loan has a higher credit score requirement at 620 to 640 which is higher than the FHA loan.
How to Apply for a Fannie Mae-Backed Mortgage. Homebuyers must also meet minimum credit requirements to be eligible for Fannie Mae-backed mortgages. For a single-family home that is a primary residence, a FICO score of at least 620 for fixed rate loans and 640 for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) is required.
Fannie Mae sets income limits for its HomeReady program. To qualify, you can't make more than 80% of your area's median income (AMI). That means if your area has a median yearly income of $100,000, you must make $80,000 or less to qualify for the HomeReady program.
The primary difference between Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is where they source their mortgages from. Fannie Mae buys mortgages from larger, commercial banks, while Freddie Mac buys them from much smaller banks.
Submitting an Offer
All offers for Fannie Mae properties must be submitted online, at HomePath.com. Ensure you have all required forms signed by the buyer before you click the Make an Offer button or you will not be able to complete the submission.
Fannie Mae imposes the following additional policies for FHA loans: Fixed-rate FHA-insured loans that are subject to interest rate buydowns are eligible for delivery to Fannie Mae as long as the borrower is qualified at the note rate.
Typical Closing Times: By Loan Type
It takes approximately 47 days to close on a conventional mortgage loan in accordance with Fannie Mae's qualified lending standards. Conventional refinances are faster and take around 35 days to close on average.
Fannie Mae will review your offer and provide a response within 3-5 days of the offer's submission. Please speak with your Listing Agent if you have specific questions about the offer. If your agent is not responding, please let us know.
First, to clear up some confusion, there is no such thing as a Fannie Mae bank-owned property. Fannie is the real owner, not the bank or mortgage lender. Additionally, there are many types of foreclosed properties in today's housing market such as pre-foreclosure, short sales, sheriff sales and so on.