Options for Spokane Real Estate Investors

As a follow up to our last post about Fannie Mae's "end of year" incentives for home buyers, let's talk about property investment.

Not only is it the perfect time to buy a home, but it’s also an excellent time to purchase an investment property. If you already own and are not interested in moving – or you can’t because of the 3-year occupancy requirement to keep your home buyer tax credit – but still want to take advantage of the market, investing can be a great way to do so.

In the current lending situation, lenders often require investor buyers to have six months reserves of mortgage payments and a 25% down payment. This stipulation keeps many would-be investors out of the market.

Here are some little known tips to help investors purchase, regardless of the tighter lending environment:

1. Investors can purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath investment for 3% down.
2. Any investor, not just veterans, can purchase a Veterans Affairs(VA) foreclosure with VA’s Vendee Financing for 5% down.
3. Investors purchasing a VA foreclosure with Vendee Financing can use 75% of anticipated rent to offset the monthly payment if the investor has experience managing rental properties.

Contact us right away if you want to learn more about taking advantage of this incredible investment opportunity.  There are abundant foreclosures in the Spokane area.

End-of-Year Bonus for Home Buyers (Thank you Fannie Mae)

Like a car dealership at the end of its model year, Fannie Mae is offering special incentives exclusively for owner occupants that purchase property from its sizable inventory of foreclosures, also known as HomePath properties.

Owner occupants that purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property by December 31 will receive up to 3.5% toward closing costs and a home warranty. These incentives for foreclosures are unheard of – banks typically sell foreclosures “as-is” without incentives, warranties, or repairs. This could help buyers to view a HomePath property more like a traditional sale, not a foreclosure, during their search process.

Owners and investors (see our next blog post for more info) can purchase HomePath properties for 3% down and no mortgage insurance. For homes that are not in tip-top shape, Fannie Mae also offers the HomePath Renovation financing, which works similarly to FHA’s 203(k) mortgage by allowing the cost of light renovation to be included in the mortgage. Furthermore, owner occupants get a 15-day “first dibs” on HomePath properties through the First Look program.

Fannie Mae is also offering agents an additional $1500 for representing owner occupants who purchase these properties, helping to compensate them for the extra paperwork and other potential obstacles that come along with foreclosure transactions.

Buyers should be sure to take a second look at Fannie Mae’s HomePath properties before settling on “the one.” It could mean not just a great deal but an excellent one.

To see Fannie Mae’s HomePath homes, check out HomePath.com

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Inman News, Keller Williams Research