There are several parts to the new guidelines. Part one involves number of properties owned by one person. Formerly, one person could own 10 properties. However, now, if a person applies for a mortgage loan, Fannie Mae will not grant the loan for second homes or investment properties if the applicant already has loans on more than 4 properties.

However, if the mortgage applicant ‘s homes have loans in a corporation’s name, and the real estate investor happens to be the only owner of this corporation, these properties will not be counted as part of the 4 property limit by Fannie Mae.

Therefore, it might prove beneficial for investors to restructure their properties into a corporation and avoid the 4 property limit. Now, this is a good idea to help gain mortgage approval even though some investors have taken this action for tax and liability reasons.

Secondly, some of the guidelines do not have such a loophole. All investment property mortgages will be assessed with new loan-to-value based loan fees by Fannie Mae.

– 1.75% loan fee for loan-to-value less than 75% – 3.00% loan fee for loan -to-value 75.01-80.00% – 3.75% loan fee for loan-to-value 80.01-90.00%

These fees are mandatory and are in addition to any whatever other risk-based loan fees Fannie Mae may assess. Currently, those fees amount to a half-percent at minimum for real estate investors.

The government hasn’t released any information about possible relaxation of mortgage guidelines since their Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac takeover. If the guidelines loosen up, this would be helpful for real estate investors. If those who want to mortgage property can’t qualify for a loan, lower rates aren’t going to be a lot of help.

In summary, if you are considering one or several investment properties, it may be more advantageous, and less expensive, to buy over the near term . Definitely consider placing the properties you do own into a corporation.