Fannie Mae announced on
Tuesday it is extending its buyer incentive program beyond the
original expiration date at the end of this month. The program is available to borrowers who purchase a Fannie Mae owned HomePath property and intend to owner-occupy. Homes for sale include single-family houses, condominiums and town houses that have been taken over by Fannie Mae as delinquencies and foreclosures rose.
The program, which will now
expire on June 30, 2010, offers buyers of Fannie Mae owned properties listed on the HomePath.com
website who close by that date a rebate of 3.5 percent of the purchase price of
the house. The rebate can be used toward closing costs, a choice of selected
Whirlpool appliances, or a combination of the two at the discretion of the
buyer. The incentives were initiated in January and were advertised as a complement
to the federal homebuyer tax credits available to both first-time and move-up
homebuyers. Those programs expire at the
end of April although buyers have until June 30 to complete their purchases.
"We are happy with the
results of the program, which has helped us to sell properties quickly, thereby
stabilizing neighborhoods and property values," said Terry Edwards, Executive
Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management.
The HomePath website lists
Fannie Mae-owned homes for sale nationwide, and a quick visit to the site demonstrates
why the corporation is offering incentives; it has a huge backload of
properties. Some 62,000 properties are
listed on the site including single-family residences, condomiums, and
town-homes. There are, for example, 466
homes listed for sale in Iowa, 305 in Connecticut, 3,840 in Georgia and 8,595
in California. Reuters reported that
Fannie Mae recently stated that it had over 86,000 homes in its portfolio.
Many of the HomePath
properties are also eligible for HomePath mortgage financing or renovation
financing. The mortgage financing allows
down payments as low as 3 percent without mortgage insurance and those funds
can come from gifts, grants, or a loan from a non-profit or government organization
or an employer. The loans have flexible
rate structures including fixed rate, adjustable rate and interest only; are available
with reduced credit guidelines and both owner-occupants and investors can
qualify. The renovation mortgages offer the same benefits but will provide
additional financing for "light renovation" and are available to
owner occupants only.
While retail loan officers were initially the only group of originators able to write this loan product, mortgage bankers and brokers are now finding more investors willing to participate. Again this program applies to Fannie Mae HomePath properties only.
MORE DETAILS ON HOMEPATH FINANCING FROM FANNIE MAE