Fannie Mae Marks First Year of First Look™ Initiative

Nearly 35,000 Owner Occupants and Public Entities Purchase Homes

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Sep 20, 2010, 11:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fannie Mae (OTC Bulletin Board: FNMA) today announced that more than 29,000 owner occupants have purchased homes in neighborhoods across the country through its First Look™ initiative over the last year. Fannie Mae also worked with nearly 800 public entities under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to build stronger communities. Using NSP funds, public entities purchased nearly 5,000 Fannie Mae-owned foreclosure properties.

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. Only offers from owner occupants and participants of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program are considered during the initial period a property is on the market. 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, Vice President for Alternative REO Dispositions at Fannie Mae. "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 www.HomePath.com. 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 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) national First Look program as one more way the company collaborates with the industry to support community stabilization efforts.

For more information about Fannie Mae-owned properties for sale and the First Look initiative, including how many days are left before the First Look period passes, please visit www.homepath.com and look for the logo.

Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America's secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.

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First Look is a registered trademark of Fannie Mae.

SOURCE Fannie Mae