HomePath® and HomePath Renovation: Great Mortgage Loan Options
As a home buyer you have quite a few options for buying and financing a house. You could buy a newly constructed home no one else has ever lived in. You could buy a vacant home owned by a bank that was foreclosed. You can look at fixer-upper homes - or started homes - that you can add your touch to and make your own. You could look at urban homes with neighbors only inches away or rural properties where you couldn't hit the next house with a rock. For financing, you could look at a conventional mortgage, and FHA loan or the USDA Rural Development. Let's add another layer: HomePath and HomePath Renovation.
What is a HomePath Mortgage?
The HomePath mortgage is how Fannie Mae is selling the properties it owns after the foreclosure sweep of the last few years. Because Fannie Mae is not in the business of holding properties, it offers this low down payment option with other benefits to help move housing stock and help qualified home buyers get back into the market.
Why does Fannie Mae have properties for sale?
While Fannie Mae works with its partners to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, sometimes foreclosures are unavoidable. When they do occur on mortgages in which Fannie Mae is the investor, its goal is to sell those properties in a timely manner in order to minimize the impact on the neighborhood.
How does Fannie Mae sell its homes?
Fannie Mae uses local real estate professionals to prepare, maintain and list our properties for sale. All of its properties are listed on Fannie Mae’s HomePath website. Most have photographs, property descriptions and other details like school and neighborhood information.
Do I have to use a special real estate agent?
No. You may work with any real estate sales professional to submit an offer on Fannie Mae properties. However, Fannie Mae only accepts offers through its real estate listing agents. Also, it’s a good idea to pick an agent who has some experience with foreclosure sales.
For a quick explanation on this, you can also watch an interview with national renovation lending expert Joe Daly below.
Trouble with the viewer? Click here - HomePath and HomePath Renovation with AmeriFirst
Let's take a look at the benefits of each option to home buyers.
You can see there are a few money-saving benefits to HomePath and HomePath Renovation. the other thing with the renovation option is that you can roll the cost of repairs into the mortgage. The maximum renovation amount cannot exceed 35 percent of the "as-improved" value, and cannot exceed $35,000. The work must be completed within six months of the loan closing.
Learn more about these and other options for buying a house. Download "The Only Mortgage Loan Options Guide You Need" at the button below.
(creative commons photo credit)