Buying A Home
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Fannie Mae Home Path
Has anyone bought a home using a fannie mae home path renovation loan?? My husband and I would like to buy a fixer upper that could give us some equity quickly. We're wondering how that whole process works. When you make an offer do you offer for the price of the house, or the price plus the money you'd need for reno?? We're confused, and would like any info we can get 
Re: Fannie Mae Home Path
I do not know the details of the the FM Home Path loans, but can answer your other queston.
You offer to the seller what you will pay for the house/property in it's present state, unless you also negotiate repairs/renovations that the seller will pay for if the inspection shows problems (particularly those that are safety concerns, but others are the two of you as the two of you agree upon.
For your renovations you will need to work with a mortgage lender.
I suggest talking with a mortgage lender before you start your home search and see what is available to you.
Make sure you have your finances in order, have your downpayment, emergency fund and some renovation money, start up costs, moving costs, furniture/appliances, yard items in hand. Do NOT put this on a credit card! Keep your housing costs to no more than 25-28% of your take home pay for mortgage+PMI+insurance+ taxes + utilities
Two good books to read from the Dummies series
Home Buying for DUmmies
Mortgages for Dummies
As an agent, I suggest using an agent when dealing with a HomePath purchase. I have done 2 of these this year for clients. Both also went above asking price.
With a HomePath, the condition of the property is AS-IS WHERE IS. Between the time of my accepted offer for clients and closing, the fridge disappeared. Nothing to be done about it either.
An inspection on a property like this is basically to let you, the buyer, know what things need to be fixed. If the roof is completely shot, the electrical out of date, etc, the lender could require these things to be fixed before closing.
The way the repairs work - HomePath bids out the work, uses THEIR contractors for the repairs and tacks on the bills to your loan. So if you loan/accepted offer price was $200,000 and there were $15,000 in repairs that were done, your loan is now $215k. Make sense?
Some loan programs other than conventional will be more difficult to get financing for on a Foreclosure like this.
Hope this helps!
I did a reno loan, not Home Path or FHA, but we did a major gut on a foreclosure. The big rule of thumb is that you can't over renovate (good if you're looking to build equity). Your lender will appraise the property based on the after-renovation market value.
And you should itemize EVERYTHING in your budget to make sure your costs are covered.
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Thank you, this info was very helpful. We will be using a real estate agent, when the time comes.
So just for clarification, you make an offer on the house. If it's accepted you then have it inspected. From the inspection the lender bids out the work that only the inspector finds?? So costs for cosmetic things, like paint or tile aren't included? and adds the cost to your loan?
Yes, generally the inspection is for peace of mind only. If an appraiser comes out and see the roof is missing, then you might have a problem getting a loan until the roof is put back on.
if the bank requires the roof to be put on, Frannie will bid it out, have their contractors do the work and then you will pay for it on the loan.
Say your loan is 200k and the roof is 4k, your new loan amount is 204k.
Cosmetic things like paint, etc are all up to you. That's the fun of being a home owner!