Fannie Mae Archives - Desert Premier Realty Group

Fannie Mae First Look

If you are a home buyer and you’ve been doing any amount of home research on the web, you have probably run in to the term – Fannie Mae First Look.

A Common Challenge For Home Buyers In The Valley

Real estate investors, especially here in Phoenix, tend to have very deep pockets and pay with cash. What that means to you, the home buyer is that a real estate investor can typically afford to offer more than a home for sale might be listed for.

Time and time again, especially with bank owned properties, big investors beat out owner occupant home buyers in the bidding process, because owner occupants tend to buy homes with financing and can’t overbid on and complete the purchase of a property without coming in with cash to make up the difference if the appraisal comes in low .

That is just one challenge in competing with a real estate investor.

Enter Fannie Mae’s First Look Home Buying Period

The First Look buying period is truly a blessing for owner-occupant home buyers. In a nutshell, the Fannie Mae First Look home buying program allows owner occupants to make offers on their Homepath home of choice, without the worry of competition from investors.

How The First Look Program Works

Take a look at the example below of a property that is available (as of today) on Homepath.com.

The top red arrow is pointing toward the list price of the home – $284,900. The red arrow on the bottom is pointing to how many days are left (the countdown clock) in the Fannie Mae FirstLook period for that specific home. As you can see there are 17 days left for the owner occupant home buying period.

Potential home buyers have 20 days to make an offer during the Fannie Mae First Look program. This time period has been recently extended from 15 days.

It’s That Simple.

Just contact your real estate agent and make an offer!

Restrictions Apply, Of Course.

There are certain requirements that buyers must meet in order to qualify to purchase a Fannie Mae home during the First Look period. The first, of course, is the home buyer must be an owner occupant and will make the home their primary residence.

The potential home buyer will also need to occupy the home within 60 days of purchasing the property. The buyer will need to agree to live in the home for at least one year and will be required to sign an addendum to the real estate purchase contract stating they will abide by that. The addendum will also outline the consequences of not following these guidelines.

The Fannie Mae First Look program is a great tool for the typical home buyer to have at their disposal. Be sure to keep an eye out for Fannie Mae’s Homepath properties and alert your real estate agent that you would like to include them in your home search.

Closing cost assistance is a welcome incentive for home buyers as we begin to approach a more balanced real estate market here in Phoenix, Arizona.

Update: 3.5% Closing Cost Assistance Deadline Has Been Extended To April 30th, 2014.

Fannie Mae Offers Closing Cost Assistance.

Fannie Mae will be offering to pay for buyers’ closing costs to encourage potential home buyers to purchase their Homepath® properties. Fannie Mae homes for sale are also referred to as bank owned properties or REOs.

The closing cost assistance offered to home buyers will be 3.5% of the purchase price and the program is available in the state of Arizona, as well as 26 other states.

As a quick example, on the purchase of a $200,000 home, you will receive $7,000 ($200,000 x 3.5%) towards your closing costs .

Time Is Limited (Really).

There is a short window of opportunity for their closing cost assistance program. As a home buyer, you must make an offer on one of Fannie Mae’s homes during their FirstLook™ period between February 14, 2014 and March 31, 2014. The home must close on or before May 31, 2014.

Making an offer on a Fannie Mae Homepath home is very simple. Once you have located the home that you would like to make an offer on, just contact your real estate agent and they will do the work for you.

The First Look™ Period Is Extended.

Fannie Mae has also announced that they will be extending their FirstLook buying period from 15 to 20 days.

According to their announcement, Fannie Mae’s goal is to “…sell as many HomePath properties as possible to owner-occupants who will stabilize neighborhoods and help the housing recovery.”

This is a great opportunity for home buyers to limit their out of pocket costs when purchasing a home. If you would like more information on Fannie Mae’s closing cost assistance program or their bank owned properties for sale here in Phoenix, please feel free to fill out the form below.

Fannie Mae First Look For Home Buyers