Fannie Mae hub
Fannie Mae does not lend to buyers
It buys loans from lenders. That one fact explains most of the words you will hear.
What Fannie Mae is
Fannie Mae is a company chartered by Congress to keep money flowing to home lenders. It buys home loans that lenders have made, and it sets rules for the loans it will buy. It has been run under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, its regulator, since the financial crisis of the late 2000s.
What Fannie Mae is not
It is not a lender you can apply to. You cannot get a loan, a pre-approval or a rate from Fannie Mae. You apply with a bank, a credit union or a mortgage company.
Why a lender says conventional or conforming
Many lenders make loans that fit Fannie Mae's rules so they can sell them. A loan with no government backing is called conventional. A conventional loan that fits the size limit and the buying rules is called conforming.
What it means for you
The loan you sign is made by your lender. Later it may be sold to Fannie Mae, to Freddie Mac or to someone else, and you may be asked to pay a new servicer. The terms of your loan do not change when that happens. The who-owns-my-mortgage page shows how to find out.
More Fannie Mae topics
- Conforming loans and the yearly limitA loan can be too large for Fannie Mae to buy. The limit changes every year.
- HomeReady and other programsFannie Mae gives lenders a program called HomeReady. A lender decides whether it fits you.
- PMI versus government insuranceEvery loan with a small down payment has some kind of insurance for the lender. Who provides it differs.
- The home has to pass tooA lender looks at the house as well as the buyer.
- Steps from search to keysThe order is the same for most home loans.
Educational only. AskResi is not a lender.