Can I please get some general feedback on Homepath properties and the Homepath rehab investor financing.
I am brand new, and when I browsed the listings in my general area many of them seemed overpriced to make sense for investing, and I was told (possibly in error) that they, Fannie, are very reluctant to negotiate especially with investors.
I have a partner that can qualify for the Homepath financing, so the idea of getting into decent long term financing for a newbie seems pretty attractive, but not if we are spinning our wheels for crazy lengths of time and fighting to pay close to retail for a property.
Well owner occupied you can purchase a Homepath Property for as little as 3% down including rehab financing!
Owner occupied you will need to occupy the home and can not sell it until the minimum occupancy requirement is met.
As an individual or corporate investor you can qualify and hold up to 20 Homepath Properties with 30% down.
Only individual investors qualify for Homepath Rehab Loans and are limited to a total of 4 and must put 30% down of the purchase and restoration cost to qualify.
In my experience, I am seeing Homepath and other REO properties being listed at market value and the banks are expecting to get this price. Because the market is rebounding, they are willing to wait it out to get a higher price for these properties to recoup past losses.
Since the market is recovering, however, buyers stand a good chance of seeing a healthy return based on property appreciation. I believe the average appreciation over last year was 13%. That being said, do not overlook these properties if you are a buy and hold investor.
It is not uncommon for foreclosure property to require repairs. Therefore, buyers should obtain property inspections and appraisals to determine the actual value. If additional problems are revealed during the inspection, buyers should obtain repair cost estimates…
In fact, it is a good idea to write purchase contracts to include a satisfactory home inspection contingency in addition to a satisfactory appraisal. In this way, if you find serious problems with either the condition of the home or the appraised value, you can back out of the contract and get your earnest money returned.
mpat, what market are you buying in? Do you need to finance the purchase and repair cost? If I’m not mistaken, the HomePath Renovation loan only allows the lesser of 35% of after repair value or $35k for repairs. Because of their FirstLook priority period, it may seem like many of the properties are going to owner occupants. By the way, FNMA loves investors. The reality is that we purchase the majority of their foreclosures and have for years. There are still very good FNMA owned properties to purchase for investment. In my market, listing agents are aggressively using price reduction strategies to “find the market.” Occasionally, a property is overpriced. FNMA relies heavily on the listing agent putting a proper price on a property. RIGHT NOW IN MY MARKET, TIMING IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT TO BUYING REO. I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT FNMA AND BANKS ARE ARTIFICIALLY CONTROLLING SUPPLY AND DEMAND. Harder to find a deal in a market with little supply. There are pluses and minuses to doing this, but that can be covered in a separate thread.