Homesteps holds for resale single family homes, townhouses
and condominiums. It offers incentives
to owner-occupants, such as a 15-day “first look” preference on homes that have
entered the market. It also offers
2-year home warranties and discounts on new applicances to
owner-occupants. Like Fannie Mae and
unlike HUD, Freddie Mac may also repair and refurbish homes in its
inventory. Prices and areas in which
Freddie Mac Homesteps homes are available vary widely, and the reader is
invited to search the Homesteps site at www.homesteps.com. You can even register to receive automatic
updates by email.
Freddie Mac warns the prospective buyer that it invites
multiple offers on its properties, and therefore recommends that the buyer make
his or her “highest and best offer.” I
find this admonition to be more than a bit self-serving, like the
representation frequently made by the listing agent in a short sale: “There has
been a lot of interest, and I am receiving multiple offers on this home; so if
the buyer really wants this property, he or she had better present his or her
best offer.” Do you believe that? Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t. The reality of the current real estate market
is that there a lot of homes competing for a more limited pool of buyers. The smart homebuyer is well advised to be
moved less by emotion and more by data and analysis. Of course, this is always true for investors.
And that is probably the best way to close a discussion of
Freddie Mac Homesteps… or Fannie Mae Homepath… or HUD Homes… or other types of
REO’s. There is no magical source of
great values. There are no secret lists, although I do compile a weekly investor suggestion list that I research carefully. All of these entities have their own web
sites, and I would encourage the reader to check them often. But even more, solid analysis identifies the
really great opportunities.
