Fannie Mae - is this a common problem?

Question

Hey everyone,
I figured I'd ask here because I know many of you have dealt with Fannie mae a lot. I've been having a problem with a listing and wanted to know if this is common or if something's wrong.

Here's the deal in as few words as possible:

There aren't a lot of REOs in our region. One caught our eye on Homepath because it's fairly underpriced (given the low availability). The listing had been on Homepath for over 2 months and had 2 price drops.

It was listed as active so we contacted the listing agent directly, but he said it was sold.

Since it was still listed as active, we called Fannie Mae just to verify, and the supervisor (or the 2nd line person, whatever they are called) said they hadn't even received an offer on the house. But there wasn't much we could do about it.

2 days later it changed on the website to under contract, so we figured he was right.

2 weeks later I look up Homepath and it says back on market. We figured we would try a different approach and contact a buyer agent. She contacted the listing agent to get us a viewing, and he once again says it's sold.

It's still listed as "back on market" on Homepath.

In one month, we still haven't been able to see the house.. I find it kind of suspicious, almost as if he always says it's sold and lets the price drop, but can't exactly verify it. I've been told that Fannie Mae has a lot of departments so often one hand doesn't know what the other is doing, so it might just be system delays.

Anyone have any insight? There aren't a lot of opportunities in this area and this listing agent pretty much has ALL of the REO homes so I don't want to confront him and be wrong, if that makes sense.

Thank you for the information.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

My suggestion is have your buyer agent go online to Homepath. If it shows as available, upload an offer, see what happens. You'll have an inspection period, so no risk. The offers go directly to FNMA, not the realtor. He will get notification, but you'll find out what's really going on.

Anson Young · Answer

Odd, usually homepath.com is the authority on the status. You should have put in an offer via the portal, and then REALLY would see where it was at. Call FNMA, and file a complaint. The Agent will get his ass handed to him by his FNMA sales rep (asset manager) and make sure to report when each time you called and that the agent said it was unavailable when it was showing active on homepath.com.

Steve Babiak · Answer

Anson Young and Wayne Brooks have given you good suggestions. There was a time when the listing agent was able to "game" things, but the homepath portal has made that less likely.

Phil Z. · Answer

I used to sell Fannie Mae properties. Buying Agents submit to HomePath which puts the offer on the record. Then the listing agent has to submit it to the equator system. The listing agent is responsible for updating HomePath, MLS, and equator. If HomePath will accept an offer, go ahead and submit it. If theres more than one offer, chances are Fannie Mae will require the listing agent to press the Highest and Best notification button.

Kirk Williams · Answer

old thread, but common problem, needs to be discussed thoroughly- FNMA often does not have the deed recorded properly at the local courthouse. putting in even a full price offer, can lead nowhere. you may wait 90 days or more, with your earnest money tied up, watching other nicer properties go by cuz you're tied to this FNMA thing- only to have them cancel the transaction because they can't get a clean sheriff's deed. there may also be inherent problems with the deed itself from prior errors and carelessness, of local surveyors, attorneys, etc. over the years- mistakes are made that are very easy to make, but are highly expensive and time consuming to fix. it may mean serving all the local neighbors around the property with notices, to have the border lines redrawn. I've seen quite a few, such as a mobile home on foundation on 7 acres of land, that the land had the right name on the deed, but the mobile home had a previous owner's name on its title. result- bank will not give a loan on it, or smart buyer will not do a cash deal on it. previous owner can legally come in and claim the mobile home, right out from under them ! FNMA is difficult enough the way it is, add in possible deed problems, it becomes impossible. at that point they are basically "junk properties" not worth trying to buy or renovate, and should be bulldozed, and the raw land resold at a penny opener auction on EBay. cuz that's all they're worth. FNMA should be forced to pay to restore the property to pristine raw land condition. Fannie Mae, well....sucks !!

James Wise · Answer

There are always delays with the mls and fannie homes etc. As others have said put the offer in on the homepath site then see what happens. It looks kinda fishy to me. I.E. listing agent wants to buy it/has a partner to buy it etc. but is making sure the price drops 1st.

Sam Leon · Answer

while we are on the subject of homepath, at the risk of sidetracking the original subject, does FNMA require a new offer to be entered for each "round" of selection? Let me clarify. You made an offer, multiple offer situation. Listing agent entered your offer. FNMA countered someone else's, fine. No meeting of minds, that buyer walks, what does FNMA do? Do they look at the other offers and make a decision? One agent told me this is what they do. Another listing agent said I must resubmit the offer again for round 2. Which is it? Also when is the REO addendum required? Last year I was negotiating with FNMA on a property and once they countered my price they sent me the big REO addendum, I only had to put in the state contract initially. Now they are requiring the REO addendum from the get go?

Sam Leon · Answer

The listing agent may know if another buyer has been countered by FNMA and in the process of negotiation or period of due diligence, so he tells you SOLD. Sometimes a listing agent will tell me the highest price on FNMA or Hubzu, as in "I have multiple offers and one is 15k above asking..." when current bid on Hubzu shows a lower price, and that could be they have received paper offers on their desk that they have not yet entered into the system. Or they could be manipulating. I think Wayne idea of getting a buyer agent to submit it to the portal takes out all uncertainty.

Andrew Tuquilar · Answer

I'm currently having a discrepency between the MLS and Homepath.com. This house became active on MLS yesterday, so I went to go look at it and decided to make an offer. When my agent went on Homepath.com, the status is still "coming soon" so we were unable to upload my offer. Agent called Fannie Mae and was told that the listing is not yet active and the offer will get bounced back to the listing agent. We then just sent offer to listing agent. Not sure what's next. VERY frustrating!!!!

Account Closed · Answer

Yes, this is a common problem for FNMA owned homes listed with traditional agents. I routinely see discrepancies between the listing status on the MLS and on Homepath.com. There are also frequent differences between the asking price listed on the MLS and the asking price listed on Homepath.com. Personally, I rely solely on the information listed on Homepath.com and disregard the MLS listing status and price. FNMA listing agents in my area often try to play games and manipulate the MLS status in an attempt to secure both sides of the commission. Even if the home is listed as