Definition of "Freddie Mac"

Joseph  McCarthy real estate agent

Written by

Joseph McCarthyelite badge icon

August Associates, LLC

Someone recommended you should reach out to Freddie Mac and you came here looking for him. No, he's not a registered real estate agent at The OFFICIAL Real Estate Agent Directory ®. Not a cousin to the late Bernie Mac either. Freddie Mac is more like Fannie Mae’s younger friend that helps but also disturbs. But plot twist: Freddie Mac is not actually a person! So let’s give the correct Freddie Mac definition and get this done with:

Freddie Mac is the way people commonly call the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), a company created to expand the second mortgage market in the US. Here’s the deal: with the success of Fannie Mae restoring the housing market after the Great Depression, it became a private corporation that needed some competition. To provide that, the US Congress created through the Emergency Home Finance act of 1970 this federally chartered corporation called Freddie Mac to buy pools of mortgages from lenders and sell securities bonds backed by these mortgages.

Freddie Mac's business model is basically keeping a fee in exchange for assuming the credit risk from investors. They don’t directly lend to borrowers; they buy specific loans allowing lenders to have space and money to lend to more clients, thus pushing for more housing development. So, as you can see, that Freddie Mac is one slick guy. He guarantees that the principal and the interest loan are paid regardless if the borrower actually pays.

 

Real Estate Advice:

If you can’t figure out which will give the best solution to your problem, check out the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae definition or contact a local real estate agent to look out for this one on your behalf!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Mortgage Terms

The number of months for which the initial interest rate holds on an ARM. ...

Rates and points quoted by loan providers. You cannot safely assume that mortgage price quotes are always timely, niche-adjusted, complete, or reliable. Timeliness: Most mortgage lenders ...

Authorization by the lender for the borrower to pay taxes and insurance directly. This is in contrast to the standard procedure, where the lender adds a charge to the monthly mortgage ...

A mortgage on which interest is calculated daily based on the balance on the day of payment, rather than monthly, as on the standard mortgage. ...

On an ARM, the assumption that the interest rate rises to the maximum extent permitted by the loan contract. ...

The house in which the borrower will live most of the time, as distinct from a second home or an investor property that will be rented. ...

A mortgage on which half the monthly payment is paid twice a month. It should be called a 'semi-monthly mortgage' but market practice often trumps logic. In contrast to a biweekly, a ...

A mortgage loan for 125% of property value. Since such loans are only partly secured, they have many of the characteristics of unsecured loans, including relatively high interest rates. ...

Fees assessed by lenders when payments are late. Late fees are usually 4% or 5% of the payment. A borrower with a 6% mortgage for 30 years who pays a 5% late charge every month raises his ...

Popular Mortgage Questions