Readers sound off on Fannie Mae

My Jan. 12 column addressing reports about Fannie Mae stifling short sales sparked quite a response. Several readers contacted me to share their experiences and echo some of the concerns raised by last month’s column.

To recap, the issue involves an increasing number of complaints from would-be homebuyers, Realtors and others who say that Fannie Mae has been blocking short sales by asking for tens of thousands of dollars above appraised value for the homes they control.

Basically, the so-called government-sponsored enterprise that backs millions of mortgages across the country seems to be holding back home sales for some reason. Most of the complaints I’ve heard are coming from potential buyers who are relying on financing, rather than paying cash, to purchase a property previously financed by a Fannie Mae loan.

Home buyers and real estate professionals here and in other parts of the country have been complaining for months that Fannie Mae has been responding to their offers to buy a home by asking upward of $40,000 more for the home than an appraiser said it is worth. This situation generally involves short sales, which occur when a lender agrees to sell a property for less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage.

This is significant in Southern Nevada, where the housing supply is very tight and short sales now make up nearly half of all existing home sales.

And it’s frustrating readers like Dylan Budd, who wrote: “The Q&A article in today’s paper (Jan. 12) describes our situation closely. We are first-time home buyers who tried to purchase a Fannie Mae short sale, but are in limbo because they came back and asked for $55,000 above the appraised value of $195,000. Our situation is different because we made a cash offer, which your article suggests may be their preference (but did not prevent them from coming back with a ridiculous price). We can only infer that they simply do not want to sell at fair market value. Hopefully, the GLVAR advocacy on the issue will pressure Fannie Mae to be more reasonable...”

Patricia Baker shared similar sentiments, saying Fannie Mae recently rejected her bid on a home here in Las Vegas.

“My bid for the Fannie Mae property is $20,000 higher than one that just sold this past September,” she said. “I have 20 percent to put down, but I can’t compete with cash buyers.”

As I said last month, leaders of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors have been contacting Fannie Mae officials and state and federal government leaders, urging Fannie Mae to get back to accepting reasonable offers.

Despite our best efforts, I continue to hear about such situations.

If this issue is keeping you from purchasing a home, I encourage you to contact your congressional representatives.

Dave Tina is the 2013 GLVAR president. Email questions to ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit www.lasvegasrealtor.com.