To buy a house from Fannie Mae’s HomePath program, you find a Fannie Mae-owned foreclosure on the HomePath website, line up mortgage preapproval, hire a real estate agent registered on the HomePath portal to submit your offer, and then move through inspection, earnest money, and closing on an as-is basis. Every property is sold in its current condition, but the tradeoffs often include a below-market price, specialized Fannie Mae financing with down payments as low as three percent, and a priority window for buyers who plan to live in the home.
Find a Property on the HomePath Site
All Fannie Mae-owned homes are listed at homepath.fanniemae.com. You can search by address, zip code, or MLS number, use a map view, or apply filters for price range, bedrooms, and property type.1Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Quick Reference – Non-Profit and Public Entity Buyers Each listing shows photos, a property description, and a status indicator marking the home as active or under contract.
Inventory turns over constantly as new foreclosures complete and existing listings go under contract. Save a search and turn on email alerts so the site notifies you when a matching property is posted.1Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Quick Reference – Non-Profit and Public Entity Buyers You can also export the full available list to a spreadsheet if you want to compare properties side by side.
Get Preapproved Before You Bid
Before an offer can be submitted, you need a mortgage preapproval letter or, if paying cash, certified proof of funds. Lenders issue preapproval after reviewing your credit score, tax returns, and debt-to-income ratio. The letter should generally be dated within the last 30 days to count as current.2Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing
Two Fannie Mae loan products fit HomePath purchases especially well:
- HomeReady Mortgage is for buyers whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income. It allows a down payment as low as three percent and offers reduced mortgage insurance that can be canceled once you build enough equity.3Fannie Mae. HomeReady Mortgage4Fannie Mae. HomeReady Mortgage Loan and Borrower Eligibility
- HomeStyle Renovation Mortgage rolls the purchase price and renovation costs into a single loan. Renovation expenses can be up to 75 percent of the lesser of the purchase price plus renovation costs or the home’s appraised after-renovation value. For homes needing significant work, one closing covers structural repairs, kitchen remodels, or system replacements.5Fannie Mae. HomeStyle Renovation Mortgages – Loan and Borrower Eligibility
First-Time Buyer Help and Seller Concessions
First-time buyers, defined as 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 assistance through the HomePath Ready Buyer program.6Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Launches HomePath Ready Buyer Education Program for First-Time Homebuyers To qualify, complete the free online homebuyer education course on the HomePath site and get your certificate before you submit an offer. The property must be your primary residence. On a $200,000 home, that assistance is $6,000 toward closing costs.
Fannie Mae also permits higher-than-usual seller concessions on HomePath properties. 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.7Fannie Mae. Loans Secured by HomePath Properties You negotiate these concessions as part of your offer, so factor them into how you structure your bid.
Hire a Registered Real Estate Agent
You cannot submit an offer directly to Fannie Mae. Every bid must go through a licensed real estate agent registered on the HomePath portal.2Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing If your current agent is not already registered, signup is straightforward, but confirm it is done before you find a property you want to bid on.
Your agent also verifies that your offer package meets Fannie Mae’s requirements before uploading. The portal blocks submissions with missing documents. An agent experienced with HomePath transactions helps because Fannie Mae uses its own contract addenda rather than relying solely on standard local purchase agreements.
Bid During First Look if You Plan to Live There
When a property first hits the site, it enters a priority period called First Look that typically lasts 20 days.8Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Extends First Look Opportunity for Homebuyers During this window, only owner-occupants and public entities can submit offers; investors are locked out entirely.9Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Marks First Year of First Look Initiative Some states extend the period; Nevada, for instance, provides 30 days.
To bid during First Look, you sign an Owner Occupant Certification committing to move into the property within 12 months after closing and to live there as your primary residence for at least one year after moving in.10Fannie Mae. Owner Occupant Certification Everyone on the purchase contract signs it, and it is uploaded with your initial offer. The listing page shows a countdown clock for how many days remain.9Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Marks First Year of First Look Initiative
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 home, getting your offer in during First Look is your biggest strategic advantage.
Submit the Offer
Your agent submits the offer electronically through the HomePath portal, entering the price and any contingencies and uploading your financial documents.2Fannie Mae. Powering America’s Housing All submission forms require digital signatures. The system records the exact date and time of each bid.
If multiple offers come in on the same property, Fannie Mae’s asset managers may open a “highest and best” round, asking each bidder to submit their strongest final offer by a set deadline.11Fannie Mae. HomePath Online Offers Guide for Public Entity and Non-Profit Buyers If you don’t revise or withdraw before the deadline, your original bid stays active. Your agent is responsible for relaying the deadline and updating the portal in time.
You’ll receive a portal notification when an offer is selected. All communications and bid history stay archived within the system.
After Acceptance: Earnest Money and Inspection
Once your offer is accepted and the contract is executed, deliver the 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. Missing that narrow deadline can cancel the contract and put the property back on the market, so have funds ready to transfer as soon as you submit your bid.
You’ll typically have around 10 days for inspection. Because the property is sold as-is, Fannie Mae will not make repairs or offer credits for what you find. The inspection window exists so you can assess whether the cost of needed repairs fits your budget and withdraw during this window if it doesn’t.
If the home has been winterized, you pay to connect utilities for the inspection. The dewinterization and rewinterization itself is handled by Fannie Mae’s property preservation contractor at the seller’s expense.14Fannie Mae. Utility Inspections Notice You arrange to disconnect utilities right after the inspection.
Closing and Title Transfer
Your lender and the title company clear any outstanding liens or encumbrances before closing. Fannie Mae generally transfers title using a special warranty deed, the type customarily used for conveying these properties in most jurisdictions.15Fannie Mae. Completing Conveyance Documents A special warranty deed guarantees the seller (Fannie Mae) did not cause title defects during its own ownership; it does not cover issues from prior owners, which is what your title insurance policy is for.
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 include the usual items: title insurance, recording fees, escrow or settlement fees, and any transfer taxes. Fannie Mae’s contract addenda typically require the buyer to cover these transfer-related costs. The process ends when the deed is recorded with the local government and possession transfers to you.
The Owner-Occupancy Rule Has Teeth
If you bought during First Look and signed the Owner Occupant Certification, that commitment is legally enforceable. You must move in within 12 months after 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 confirm who lives there.16Fannie Mae. Getting It Right – Reverification of Occupancy
Misrepresenting occupancy intent is not a minor infraction. Under federal law, making a false statement to influence a mortgage backed by a federally related institution is a crime 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 criminal prosecution, a lender that discovers occupancy fraud can demand immediate repayment of the entire remaining loan balance. If you can’t pay, the lender can foreclose, and the default stays on your credit report for seven years. You may also be flagged in industry databases that make future mortgage approvals harder.