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.