Georgia Real Estate Sales, Appraisal, and Home Inspection School

Appraisal Topics/Reports on GREAB Meetings

The Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board (GREAB) consists of the following five members:


Position	Name	Home Town	Term Ends
Chair	Charles B. Bramlett	Monticello	07/2007
Vice Chair	Sandra McAlister Winter	Alpharetta	07/2008
Member	D. Scott Murphy	Suwanee	07/2011
Member	William "Bill" R. Coleman	Martinez	07/2010
Member	Patricia K. Love	Columbus	07/2009

The Real Estate Commissioner acts as the Board's Chief Executive Officer. This blog will provide comments on current appraisal topics and summaries of the Board's Monthly meetings for interested appraisers and members of the public.

Wednesday, February 18 2009

Fannie Mae - Rule Change: Allows Investors to own up to 10 financed properties!

Last year, Fannie Mae rules were changed to limit investors to having a maximum of four mortgages outstanding. That rule, in effect, limited investors to owning four properties. As discussed in our classes, the rule exacerbated the over-supply situation and slowed the market's ability to absorb the standing supply of housing. It was a bad rule with bad timing and AREA encouraged real estate agents and appraisers to voice opposition to the rule.

Congratulations! Your voices were heard. Fannie Mae changed its rule. The change is more in line with the traditional banking industry rules which allow investors to own and finance up to 10 one to four family properties. The new rule requires the investor to make a 25% down payment and have a credit score of at least 720.

Additional requirements to be met for the fifth to the tenth house include the following:

No bankruptcy or foreclosure within past 7 years,
No delinquencies longer than 30 days in the past 12 months,
Must be able to document income from the new property as well as existing rentals,
Must provide release of income tax returns for prior two years, and
Must maintain reserves for the new property and existing rentals

The entire rule can be found in Announcement 09-02 at eFannieMae.com. This is good news for the real estate industry. It will help the recovery, encourage more real estate sales, and create more work for agents, appraisers, and home inspectors. Stay involved and stay alert for market changes.

Posted by: Dick Viti AT 04:16 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | Email

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