Beginning this week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are trying to sell off 150,000 foreclosed homes by offering low down payments, no requirement for mortgage insurance, and up to $30,000 added to the mortgage for renovations. In addition, the real estate practitioner selling the property gets a $1,500 bonus.

In some neighborhoods, these properties undercut the average listing by $100,000.

Fannie and Freddie already have repaired the biggest problems with the property including roofs, plumbing, and electrical work.

Buyers who plan to live in the properties get a 15-day chance to view the homes before investors can purchase them. Investors with cash will likely snap up any properties remaining at the end of the grace period.

“Our goal is to recover as much as we can to offset our loss and not to be low balling properties just to move them,” says a Freddie Mac spokesperson. “We absolutely have no motivation to be leading a downward spiral in home prices.”

Source: Smart Money, Anna Maria Andriotis (09/28/2010)

Daily Real Estate News  |  September 29, 2010