When I first read about this program, it struck me as kind of odd and out of place. It actually reminded me of those Sub Prime email blasts that many loan officers used to get. Remember those?

- 100% Financing
- NO Credit Score- OK
- NO Job- OK
- NO Heartbeat - OK!

The first sound I emitted was, “Waa Waa Wee Wah!”

Fannie Mae put into effect a new program last month, and is entirely designed for people that are buying REO’s (Real Estate Owned) from Fannie Mae directly. Simply put, when someone goes into foreclosure, many times the bank will buy back the property and are looking to sell these things as fast as they can because they don’t want their “books to get cooked.”

Couple this with a slow housing market, repeat episodes of “Flip This House”, and a dash of paprika, and you’ve got yourself the HomePath program!

So what’s in it for you? Let’s take a look.

For starters, there is NO appraisal or Mortgage Insurance is needed on these types of transactions which can definitely save you some money up front, and thousands throughout the life of the loan. How sweet is that?!

So far, so good…really good! Listen, it gets better…

The minimum down payment is only 3% which can allow several more borrowers such as yourself to get into these properties. Also, if you don’t have enough money for closing costs, HomePath will allow seller contributions up to a full 6% if needed.

Another really neat thing is that there are easier approvals on this program. What I mean by that is even though you have to meet the standard guidelines (620 score, document income, etc), approval types are usually broken up into 3-4 categories. These days, 99% of lenders are accepting only 1; with HomePath, they are accepting ALL types. Bada Bing!

Now before I get blasted in 2011 for promoting this, for the record, I hope this program stays under close watch in the beginning stages because lenders could quickly fall into the hole they are slowly digging themselves out of. Remember, loosey goosey loan programs are what got us in this mess in the first place!

If you’re interested in looking more into this, I would be happy to go over the HomePath program with you. Also, make sure and do your own due diligence with some Full-Time Realtors that specialize on REO’s.

Happy Hunting!