Foreclosure Homes: Making a Offer on a Fannie Mae Home

Home Buying, Selling & Renting, finances
Page content

Fannie Mae Owned Homes

The real estate and financial crisis that started in 2006 left the mortgage guarantee company, Fannie Mae, with a lot of homes it now owns through foreclosures. Making an offer on a Fannie Mae home is one way to attempt to purchase a low cost foreclosed home.

Fannie Mae has set up a separate company and website to manage and sell its REO – real estate owned – assets. The company is called HomePath by Fannie Mae and Home Path listed homes can be found under the HomePath.com webpage. Fannie Mae and the HomePath program provide some special incentives to promote the sale of Fannie Mae homes to buyers who will live in the home. These incentives help the buyers of owner-occupied homes to compete with investors bidding for Fannie Mae homes.

Steps to Making an Offer

If you are planning on making an offer on a Fannie Mae home, you need to set up a plan to maximize your chances of getting the home you want. Fannie Mae homes are sold through a competitive bid process, and you will want to make every move you can to boost your chances making a winning bid on a home.

  1. Start looking for homes on the HomePath website. The home page of the site includes a locator to find the listing of Fannie Mae homes in your area.
  2. Find a realtor who is familiar with the process of bidding on HomePath listed homes. Fannie Mae uses local real estate companies to list and maintain the homes Fannie Mae owns. When you find a home of interest from Step 1, the real estate broker will be listed on the same page.
  3. Contact the real estate agent and have her provide an overview of the process to place a bid on a Fannie Mae home.
  4. Review the financing options offered through HomePath Financing. Fannie Mae is offering low down payment and fixer-upper loan options to help sell the company’s REO.

You will need to be ready to act fast when you find a Fannie Mae home that fits your requirements.

Extra Help for Owner Occupiers

If you want to bid on and buy a Fannie Mae home for your own residence, Fannie Mae has added some features to the HomePath program to promote individual home ownership. For the first 15 days after a home is listed by HomePath and the local broker, only owner occupants can bid on the home. Homes listed under this program will have a “First Look” logo with the listing on the HomePage website. No bids can be accepted on a home for the first three days after it is listed, so a daily check of the new listings will allow you to find a home and get in a bid quickly during the First Look period. This should increase your chances of a successful bid.

Fannie Mae also gives extra preference and additional chances to fine tune your bid if you are using public funds to assist in the purchase. Your local housing authority and your broker can let you know what public funds are available, and if you qualify to use them.

For further information on the HomePath programs, go to this page and download the Buyers Guide for Fannie Mae owned Homes.

Resources

Fannie Mae: Buying a Fannie Mae Home: https://www.fanniemae.com/homepath/homebuyers/buying_fanniemaeowned.jhtml