To buy a house from Fannie Mae’s HomePath marketplace, you line up mortgage preapproval or proof of funds, hire a real estate agent who is registered on the HomePath portal, pick a property from the listings at homepath.fanniemae.com, and submit your offer through that agent. The homes are foreclosures Fannie Mae now owns, and every one is sold as-is. The payoff for taking a house in its current condition is often a lower price and access to Fannie Mae’s own low-down-payment loan programs.
Get Your Financing Lined Up First
You cannot submit an offer without either a mortgage preapproval letter or certified proof of funds for a cash purchase. Lenders issue preapproval after reviewing your credit score, tax returns, and debt-to-income ratio, and the letter should generally be dated within the last 30 days.1Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing
Two Fannie Mae loan products are built for this kind of purchase. HomeReady is for buyers whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income, allows a down payment as low as three percent, and offers reduced mortgage insurance that can be canceled once you build enough equity.2Fannie Mae. HomeReady Mortgage3Fannie Mae. HomeReady Mortgage Loan and Borrower Eligibility The HomeStyle Renovation Mortgage rolls the purchase price and repair costs into one loan, with renovation expenses allowed up to 75 percent of the lesser of the purchase price plus renovation costs or the home’s appraised after-renovation value.4Fannie Mae. HomeStyle Renovation Mortgages – Loan and Borrower Eligibility For a HomePath house that needs real work, HomeStyle can cover structural repairs, a kitchen remodel, or system replacements in a single closing.
First-time buyers, meaning anyone who has not owned a home in the past three years, can receive up to three percent of the purchase price in closing cost help through the HomePath Ready Buyer program.5Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Launches HomePath Ready Buyer Education Program for First-Time Homebuyers You qualify by completing a free online homebuyer education course on the HomePath site and getting the certificate of completion before you submit your offer. The property must be your primary residence. On a $200,000 house, that is $6,000 toward closing.
Fannie Mae also allows larger seller concessions than most sellers offer. For a primary residence with a loan-to-value ratio above 90 percent, the seller can contribute up to six percent of the sale price toward your closing costs.6Fannie Mae. Loans Secured by HomePath Properties Build this into the offer you structure with your agent.
Find a Property on the HomePath Site
All Fannie Mae-owned homes are listed at homepath.fanniemae.com. Search by address, zip code, or MLS number, or use the map view and the advanced search with filters for price, bedrooms, and property type.7Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Quick Reference – Non-Profit and Public Entity Buyers Each listing shows photos, a description, and a status for whether the home is active or already under contract.
Inventory moves. New foreclosures finish the legal process and get listed, and existing listings go pending. Save a search and turn on email alerts so you hear about new matches, and download the full inventory to a spreadsheet if you want to compare across a wider area.7Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Quick Reference – Non-Profit and Public Entity Buyers Checking back often is how you catch a new listing before competition builds.
Work Through a Registered Agent
You cannot submit a bid directly to Fannie Mae. Every offer has to come through a licensed real estate agent registered on the HomePath portal.1Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing The agent registers by entering a license number and brokerage information, and once verified, they can submit offers for you. If your agent is not already in the system, the signup is quick, but confirm it is done before you find the house you want.
Your agent also verifies that your offer package meets Fannie Mae’s requirements before upload. The portal will not accept a submission with missing documents. HomePath uses its own contract addenda rather than relying only on local purchase agreements, so an agent who has done these transactions before is worth seeking out.
Bid During First Look If You Plan to Live There
When a property first appears on HomePath, it enters a priority period called First Look that typically lasts 20 days.8Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Extends First Look Opportunity for Homebuyers During that window, only owner-occupants and public entities can bid; investors are locked out.9Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Marks First Year of First Look Initiative The listing page carries a countdown clock showing days remaining.
To bid during First Look, you have to sign an Owner Occupant Certification committing to move into the property within 12 months after closing and live there as your primary residence for at least one year after you move in.10Fannie Mae. Owner Occupant Certification Everyone on the purchase contract signs it, and it goes in with your initial offer. Once First Look closes without a sale, the listing opens to all buyers, including investors and second-home purchasers. If you are buying to live in the house, getting your offer in during First Look is the single biggest strategic edge you have.
Submitting the Offer
Your agent submits the offer through the HomePath portal, entering the price, any contingencies, and uploading your financial documents.1Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing Forms are signed digitally. The system timestamps every bid.
If several buyers bid on the same property, Fannie Mae’s asset managers may run a “highest and best” round, asking each bidder to submit a strongest final offer by a set deadline.11Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Guide for Public Entity and Non-Profit Buyers If you do not revise or withdraw by the deadline, your original offer stands. Your agent is the one relaying that deadline and updating the portal, so stay in close contact. Asset managers generally review offers during standard business hours. You get a portal notification once an offer is selected, and all bid history is archived in the system.
After Your Offer Is Accepted
Once the contract is fully executed, you have to deliver an earnest money deposit, typically one to three percent of the purchase price, within two calendar days.12Fannie Mae. Making An Offer13Fannie Mae. Residential Real Estate Purchase and Sale Contract The deposit goes into a trust account acceptable to Fannie Mae. Miss that window and the contract can be canceled and the property relisted, so have the funds ready to wire the moment you submit the bid.
You will typically get around 10 days for inspection. The house is sold as-is, which means Fannie Mae will not do repairs or offer credits for anything you find. The inspection period exists so you can price the repairs and decide whether the numbers still work. If they do not, you can walk away during that window.
If the property has been winterized, with utilities off and plumbing drained to prevent freeze damage, you pay to connect utilities for the inspection. The actual draining and refilling of the plumbing system is handled by Fannie Mae’s property preservation contractor at the seller’s expense.14Fannie Mae. Utility Inspections Notice
Closing on the Property
Your lender and the title company clear any outstanding liens or other encumbrances before closing. Fannie Mae generally transfers title using a special warranty deed, which is the type of deed customarily used for these conveyances in most jurisdictions.15Fannie Mae. Completing Conveyance Documents A special warranty deed guarantees Fannie Mae did not cause title defects during its ownership, but it does not cover problems that originated with prior owners. Your title insurance policy is what protects against those.
At closing, you pay the remaining balance of the purchase price and your share of closing costs by wire transfer or certified check. Closing costs cover the usual items: title insurance, recording fees, escrow or settlement fees, and any transfer taxes in your area. Fannie Mae’s contract addenda typically push transfer-related costs onto the buyer. The sale is final when the deed is recorded and possession transfers to you.
If You Signed the Owner-Occupant Certification
If you bought during First Look, the certification you signed is legally enforceable. You must move in within 12 months of closing and live there for at least one year.10Fannie Mae. Owner Occupant Certification Fannie Mae and its lending partners verify compliance through post-closing reviews that may include checking your homeowner’s insurance policy for landlord coverage, confirming whether you filed for a homestead tax exemption, validating your driver’s license address, and sending someone to the property to see who actually lives there.16Fannie Mae. Getting It Right – Reverification of Occupancy
Misrepresenting your intent to occupy is a federal crime. Making a false statement to influence a mortgage backed by a federally related institution is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000,000, imprisonment of up to 30 years, or both.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally Even without prosecution, a lender that discovers occupancy fraud can demand immediate repayment of the full remaining loan balance. If you cannot pay, the lender can foreclose, and the default stays on your credit report for seven years.