HomeReady® and Home Possible®

Welcome Home RateBreak is a 2-1 temporary buydown. Here’s what that means.

• A buydown lowers the interest rate on a home loan.
• A temporary buydown means you only get the lower interest rate for a period of time – not over the life of the loan.
• The 2-1 represents the amount and timing of the temporary buydown. In this case, 2% off your rate the first year, 1% the second year.
• Welcome Home RateBreak is only available for loan amounts of $350,000 or less.

To be eligible for Welcome Home RateBreak, you just need to qualify for HomeReady or Home Possible. When you start an application we’ll help you understand your options and what’s best for you.

Want an idea of how much Welcome Home RateBreak could save you? The 2-1 Buydown section of this article gives an example, plus some guidelines.

HomeReady mortgages are financed through the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). A HomeReady loan helps borrowers with low to moderate income buy or refinance a home by reducing the standard down payment and mortgage insurance requirements.

The Home Possible mortgage program is backed by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and has similar requirements and benefits as the HomeReady program.

HomeReady and Home Possible have an income cap – also called an Area Median Income (AMI) requirement. That means you may qualify if your income is below a certain percentage of the AMI where you want to buy a home.

You can check your income using this look-up tool. But we encourage you to apply or chat with a Home Loan Expert. It’s the best way to find out which income guidelines apply to you. Even if your income doesn’t qualify, we could have other low down payment options for you.

No, you don’t have to be a first-time home buyer to be eligible. Repeat home buyers may also be eligible. If you’re a current homeowner, you can use this loan to refinance to a new rate or term. (Cash-out refinances are not allowed.)

The mortgage you get with HomeReady or Home Possible will be a 30-year fixed rate loan. So the interest rates are usually close to 30-year conventional rates.

With Welcome Home RateBreak, whatever rate you get will be 2% lower your first year, and 1% your second year.

You can buy a multifamily property with up to four units. You’ll need to live in one of the units and it must be your primary residence.

Unfortunately, Welcome Home RateBreak can’t be used to buy a manufactured home – but we could have other savings for you.

For more details on guidelines and how to qualify for HomeReady or Home Possible, read this article in the Learning Center.