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Nearly 35,000 Fannie-Owned Homes Bought Under First Look Program

""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com announced Monday that more than 29,000 owner occupants have purchased its REO homes in neighborhoods across the country through the GSE's ""First Look initiative"":http://dsnews.comarticles/fannie-mae-hones-first-look-program-for-reo-property-sales-2010-05-03 over the last year.

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Fannie Mae also worked with nearly 800 public entities under HUD's ""Neighborhood Stabilization Program"":http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/neighborhoodspg/ (NSP), enabling state and local governments and nonprofit groups to purchase nearly 5,000 Fannie Mae-owned foreclosure properties since the company's ""First Look initiative was launched"":http://dsnews.comarticles/fannie-mae-introduces-first-look-initiative-2009-11-25.

First Look is designed to promote owner occupancy and provide both owner occupants and public entities an advantage in submitting offers on Fannie Mae-owned foreclosed properties without competition from investors.

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Only offers from owner occupants and NSP participants are considered during the initial 15 days a repossessed home is on the market under the program. Offers from investors are considered after the First Look window has passed.

""While investors play an important role in the REO market, homebuyers who intend to occupy a home make an immediate and lasting commitment to the community and therefore merit priority consideration in the REO sales process,"" said Jay Ryan, VP for Alternative REO Dispositions at Fannie Mae.

Ryan added, ""Public entities under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program also benefit from inspecting eligible properties and making offers to purchase without pressure from open market competition. These entities are making considerable investments in rehabilitation and stabilization.""

Prospective buyers can easily identify how many days remain to take advantage of the First Look initiative on a particular property by visiting ""HomePath.com"":http://www.homepath.com, the GSE's REO marketing site. The First Look logo appears next to each qualifying property and there is a countdown identifying the number of days left for owner occupants and public entities to submit offers without investor competition.

Fannie Mae recently joined HUD's ""national First Look program"":http://dsnews.comarticles/reos-topic-du-jour-in-washington-2010-09-01. The GSE says it is one more way the company collaborates with the industry to support community stabilization efforts.