Fannie Mae offering Home Buyer Incentives

mortgageporterraiseFannie Mae is offering first time home buyers up to 3% towards closing cost when they purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property. On a $300,000 home, 3% would be up to $9,000 towards allowable closing cost!  A Fannie Mae HomePath property is a home that Fannie Mae has foreclosed on and now owns.

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Fannie Mae HomePath now offering Financial Flexibilities

financial_flexibilityEarlier this month, Fannie Mae retired the Fannie Mae HomePath Mortgage program which was available exclusively to homes owned by Fannie Mae as a result of foreclosure. This popular program offered mortgages with no private mortgage insurance and no appraisal was required. Investors were able to buy HomePath properties with reduced down payments.

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Comparing Low Down Payment Mortgage Programs

Young Couple With New HouseEDITORS NOTE: Fannie Mae is no longer offering the FannieMae HomePath mortgage program. If you are considering buying a Fannie Mae HomePath property (foreclosure that is owned by Fannie Mae) in Washington state, I’m happy to help you.

Home buyers have so many options today for selecting a mortgage today. We have several mortgage programs designed to help people buy a home who want to use less down payment. Many of these programs do not require the borrower to be a first time home buyer. Home buyers should compare all possible options before making a decision on what program is best suited for their personal financial scenario.

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Fannie Mae HomePath offering 3.5% towards closing costs!

mortgageporterraiseFannie Mae HomePath has announced they will offer up to 3.5% towards the buyers closing cost through March 31, 2014. Fannie Mae HomePath properties are homes that Fannie Mae owns through foreclosure. Fannie Mae offers special financing on these homes with reduced down payment, no mortgage insurance and no appraisal required. You can learn more about the Fannie Mae HomePath Mortgage by clicking here.

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Fannie Mae HomePath for Conforming High Balance Mortgages

EDITORS NOTE: Fannie Mae is no longer offering the FannieMae HomePath mortgage program. If you are considering buying a Fannie Mae HomePath property (foreclosure that is owned by Fannie Mae) in Washington state, I’m happy to help you.

Earlier this week, a real estate agent emailed me this question regarding Fannie Mae HomePath mortgages:

I have a client looking at a HomePath home in King County.  It’s listed at $470,000 and she wants to put down 5%.  Is that possible?  I had the impression that HomePath still has to conform to standards on loans and the limit would be 417,000.

Here’s my reply:

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What is the Difference Between Fannie Mae Homepath and Freddie Mac Homesteps? [UPDATED]

EDITORS NOTE: Fannie Mae is no longer offering the FannieMae HomePath mortgage program. If you are considering buying a Fannie Mae HomePath property (foreclosure that is owned by Fannie Mae) in Washington state, I’m happy to help you.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both offer special incentives to entice buyers to properties they have foreclosed on. Fannie Mae’s program is called Homepath and Freddie Mac’s is Homesteps. Although the names some similar, their incentives are VERY different. What Fannie Mae Homepath and Freddie Mac Homesteps do have in common is that the properties are generally in better shape than other distressed homes.

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Search for foreclosed homes on Zillow

Zillow has added a “foreclosure center” where you can search for foreclosed homes in your neighborhood. The search includes bank owned homes (REO) and pre-foreclosures (a home that is getting to auction).

Here’s a snap shot of what Zillow is showing as current foreclosures in West Seattle. The red houses are foreclosures and the blue houses are pre-foreclosures.

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What’s the difference between Fannie Mae Homepath and Freddie Mac Homesteps?

EDITORS NOTE: Fannie Mae is no longer offering the FannieMae HomePath mortgage program. If you are considering buying a Fannie Mae HomePath property (foreclosure that is owned by Fannie Mae) in Washington state, I’m happy to help you.

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