Fannie Mae Sells Hundreds of Foreclosures to Investors in Florida

The government-owned mortgage company Fannie Mae sold a large parcel of foreclosed homes in Florida to San Diego, California-based investors.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced they would be selling the properties to relieve the two agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, of their stock of foreclosed homes. Many of the foreclosed homes are already occupied and others will be rented out.

The sale of 699 homes to Pacifica Company is the first in a new program intended to reduce Fannie’s inventory of foreclosed homes. The sale netted Fannie $78 million just under the $81.5 million value of the properties.

Pacifica will pay Fannie $12.3 million in cash and will begin paying down the balance, giving Fannie 90 percent of the proceeds after their 20 percent rental fee until the debt is satisfied. The profits will then be split 50/50.

Additional bulk sales in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix will be announced in the next few weeks. Fannie also planned a bulk sale in Atlanta, but the deal fell through because it was not financially feasible.

The idea of selling these homes was introduced in January to help give the housing market some relief, but its impact won’t be immense since the housing market has improved a great deal since the program was introduced. The sale does however help the federal mortgage agencies unload their excessive stock of homes.

Foreclosure has an impact on communities and our economy as a whole. When it is possible, homeowners should contact a foreclosure attorney to see if they can stay in their homes through a mortgage modification or avoid seizure through a short sale.