The portfolio is comprised of 2,854 housing units in 2,490 homes, of which 85 percent are currently occupied by renters. The announcement doesn't explain several important parts of the program, Chang said, including if the property will be sold in geographic or property-type portfolios; if there will be financing; how the management will work; or what, if any, stake Fannie Mae will retain.
One of the qualified investors is Waypoint Real Estate Group, an Oakland, California company that owns more than 1,000 single-family rentals in that state. The properties were acquired through distressed sales since 2009, including more than 100 purchased in January, after Waypoint announced a $250 million commitment from GI Partners, an investment fund based in Menlo Park, California.
The Fannie Mae bulk sale is an "opportunity to be able to buy a collection at scale in geographic markets," said Gary Beasley, managing director of Waypoint.
Waypoint met with Fannie Mae and FHFA officials in January to discuss the offering, Beasley said. At the time, the idea was that Fannie Mae would sell to private investors and not retain a stake, he said. He also said he hasn't seen any indication that Fannie Mae will offer financing.
Financing A Question
He has seen proposals circulated for comment by Freddie Mac that would offer financing similar to what's available for multifamily properties, with lending based in part on the cash flow of rental income rather than the value of the collateral, Beasley said.
"Now nobody is making those loans for single-family homes in the private sector," he said.
Freddie Mac will "evaluate the pilot with our conservator and make a decision after that," Brad German, a spokesman for the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage company, said in a telephone interview.
Today, California Attorney General Kamala Harris asked DeMarco to suspend some foreclosures on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.
In a letter to DeMarco, Harris requested a suspension of foreclosure sales in California for the more than 60 percent of loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Harris wants the sales halted until "your agency has completed a thorough, transparent analysis of whether principal reduction is in the best interests of struggling homeowners as well as taxpayers," according to the Feb. 24 letter.