Some more good news on the REO front. That is that Fannie Mae is selling 70% of their assets, homes, to owner occupants. The 30% that goes to investors, usually won’t qualify for financing. Most of those are then re-sold to owner occupants.
Word is that Fannie Mae has opened up to accept more REO agents. I have asked Lisa to get her broker’s license and open a real estate company. I hear that being a minority women is a slam dunk to get an account. Fannie Mae is the biggest REO company right now, or they have the most REO’s to sell. This could be a life changer!
Below is the article about Owner Occupant Sales by Fannie Mae.
- by Jon Prior
- 10:54 AM September 2, 2010
Roughly 70% of the 123,000 Fannie Mae REO sales in 2009 went to owner-occupants, a group of buyers key to a housing recovery, according to Jay Ryan, Jr., Fannie Mae’s vice president for REO alternative disposition.
The government-sponsored enterprise’s (GSEs) First Look program, which gives owner-occupants and Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grantees a 15-day head start on purchasing an REO before investors. In Las Vegas, it’s 30 days.
In a research paper for the Federal Reserve summit on neighborhood stabilization this week, Ryan wrote that the First Look program has been well received by homebuyers. He added that because the program was launched in the summer of 2009 there isn’t enough historical data to draw conclusions, but Fannie Mae will provide metrics in 2011.
But the REO inventory continues to grow, and Fannie has initiated other programs to keep these properties from further straining neighborhoods. The GSE launched an online tool to help homeowners learn about different options to avoid foreclosure.
“Despite these and other federal, state and local efforts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, the unfortunate reality is that a growing number of borrowers face economic and other hardships that make them unable or unwilling to stay in their homes,” Ryan wrote.
Sales of distress property are increasing. The 123,000 REO sales in 2009 was almost double the 64,843 done in 2008.
To go with First Look, Fannie has implemented several programs for renters of REO properties. In response to the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, which gives renters of foreclosed properties 90 days notice to move out, Fannie extended 12-month leases to them, a better option, Ryan wrote than a vacant property.
Fannie launched a pilot program in Chicago that rents restored REO properties that were once vacant. These properties are taken off the market for a resale when prices have recovered, Ryan wrote.
Freddie Mac, too, has put an emphasis on getting owner-occupants into its REO. Chris Bowden, vice president of the Freddie Mac HomeSteps department, which manages the government sponsored enterprises’ (GSE) REO inventory, said stabilizing neighborhoods will depend on getting these buyers into these properties.
Ryan at Fannie said more programs are on the way for these homebuyers.
“We are planning new initiatives and enhancements of existing programs in the weeks and months ahead as we continue to work with partners in cities and communities across the country in achieving our shared goal of stabilizing and revitalizing neighborhoods,” Ryan wrote.
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