This post comes from Mike Nickele at our partner site Zing!
I’ve got some good news and some bad news on the housing front. First, the good news: The market is ticking up and the inventory of foreclosed homes is dwindling. The bad news: For just that reason, Fannie Mae is ending its HomePath program.
Fannie Mae’s HomePath program helps buyers of foreclosed properties get cost-effective mortgages, including cash for repairs and remodeling on homes owned by Fannie Mae. The HomePath program currently offers a number of incentives for home buyers: You can put down as little as 5%, there’s no mortgage insurance requirement, and you don’t have to get an appraisal.
Also to end is Fannie’s HomePath Renovation Mortgage, which allows buyers to borrow extra cash – up to 35% of the purchase price, with a maximum of $35, 000 – for light to moderate repairs and updates to a foreclosed property.
You can check out the HomePath program at HomePath.com, but be forewarned that it all comes to an end on October 6, 2014 – so you better act fast if you still want to get in on it!
But don’t be forlorn, as Fannie’s making up for these program withdrawals with a number of financing flexibilities. Fannie Mae will allow interested-party contributions (contributions from the seller, the lender or anyone who stands to benefit from the sale) of up to 6% of the selling price, up from 3%. And, it also now allows properties with Fannie Mae-imposed resale restrictions – restrictions which require a length of time before reselling the property – to qualify for Fannie Mae-backed mortgages.
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