Las Vegas Homes, Condos, Land and Commercial Real Estate Blog

HomePath financing that Fannie May allows for their foreclosed homes, condos and high rise condominiums is about the only way to finance a resale condominium or high rise condo in Las Vegas, with few exceptions. I have nothing to do with obtaining a mortgage except referring customers to a lender upon request, but I need to know about what type of real estate can be financed and by whom. My favorite bank that re-sales it’s foreclosed or bank owned homes or condos in Las Vegas is Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae gives owner occupied Las Vegas home or condo buyers 30 days to bid before they let investors bid on their REOS. Banks prefer to sell their foreclosed home or condos to cash buyers who can close escrow in two weeks even if their offer is thousands of dollars less than a buyer who has to finance his deal.

Today, I met with Melinda Escobido who works for Prospect Mortgage, which along with Wells Fargo is currently the only two lenders who are approved to do HomePath loans to get the latest news and below is what she had to say:

HomePath Financing by Fannie Mae for owner occupied home or condo buyers in Las Vegas

Fannie Mae just made financing their foreclosed homes or condos easier by requiring only 3% for down payment on their REOS and does not require private mortgage insurance (PMI) or appraisals which are included in the closing costs for a buyer.  Not requiring an appraisal removes the danger of complications arising from the low appraisals which is a big problem in Las Vegas now. An appraisal is a onetime cost, however (PMI) has to paid on a monthly basis and this saves the borrower money, except that the interest rate for a HomePath loan is currently 5.875 which is about .6% higher than an FHA loan.

Las Vegas single family home for sale buyers have many options to finance their deals, however owner occupied buyers being able to finance a condo or high rise condo through HomePath is new.

The other issue that Melinda discussed was:

FHA Purchase and Rehab All in One Loan to buy Las Vegas fixer uppers, the 203K loan

This is an FHA loan that can be used for buying fixer upper homes and condos. This loan can be used to buy a home or to refinance one, 3.5% down payment is required and here is the way it works.

The buyer finds and makes an offer on a Las Vegas home or condo that requires repairs in order to appraise for a mortgage loan and submits a mortgage application along with the repair cost estimates from Nevada licensed contractors. The bank will get an appraisal for the home as if all the repairs have been done and funds an FHA Purchase and Rehab All in One Loan in two parts, one portion goes towards the purchase of the home and the other portion which is called a construction loan is deposited with an escrow company in Las Vegas.  When contractors get done with the repairs, they get paid through the escrow company.

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In the next post I will explain how investors can use HomePath or FHA construction loans to their advantage. This is the reason I go to all kinds of presentations and meetings.