Four Ways to Save Time and Money When Getting a Fannie Mae Homepath Mortgage.
Fannie Mae HomePath signs are everywhere these days, and if you are looking for a residence to buy, you must have seen them by now. We will cover the items that you need to know before making an offer in the following artcle. These items will save you money and time.
Would you talk about what Fannie Mae HomePath is?
HomePath loans is an effort to sell homes that are owned by Fannie Mae due mainly to foreclosures. The program will allow for lending on homes that would not be financeable under typical lending guidelines. Fannie Mae needs to sell these homes as quickly as possible, so pricing is attractive to prospective buyers in order to get offers quickly.
If improvements are necessary, can they be financed?
Most of the time, there is some level of upgrades that is needed. It may be a small repair that is cosmetic, like new flooring, or it could involve some structural improvements. It’s highly unlikely that Fannie Mae will do any repairs as a condition of your offer. Any improvements they deem necessary will usually be done to help market the property. You just have to plan on all improvements being paid for and organized by you, not the seller.
What makes this program great, is that Fannie Mae HomePath will enable you to finance the upgrades. You still pay for them, but they’re wrapped into your loan, and you can close prior to them being started or concluded.
Is Homepath an option for investors?
Another thing that sets HomePath above other programs is that you may use this program as an investor. A larger down payment is needed, but you can do it. The alternate program, FHA’s 203K, isn’t going to permit investor owned homes.
What is the catch?
While this is certainly not a exhaustive list, it is an excellent start.
• The advertisements for Fannie Mae HomePath properties claim they will pay 3.5% in closing cost credits. This will only occur if it is written in the earnest money contract, so don’t presume it yours without requesting.
• You must be pre-qualified, so get a letter from your loan provider and submit it with the offer.
• Contingent offers are not accepted. So eliminate the contingencies prior to making an offer.
• All properties are sold as is. Make sure you know what you are getting into before you buy the home.
This has been just some of the basics to get you started on knowing more about the Fannie Mae HomePath Properties. If the property is not owned by Fannie Mae, consider using the FHA 203k program. It might be the right fit on a different property.