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

Programs offered by some lenders under which a borrower who is able to secure a grant or gift equal to 2% of the down payment will only have to provide a 3% down payment from their own ...

A documentation option where the applicant's income is disclosed and verified but not used in qualifying the borrower. The conventional maximum ratios of expense to income are not ...

A lender that sells the loans it originates, as opposed to a portfolio lender that holds them. ...

A lender who specializes in lending to sub-prime borrowers. ...

The upfront and/or periodic charges that the borrower pays for mortgage insurance. There are different mortgage insurance plans with differing combinations of monthly, annual, and upfront ...

A letter from a lender verifying that the price and other terms of a loan have been locked. Borrowers who lock through a mortgage broker should always demand to see the lock commitment ...

A computer-driven process for informing the loan applicant very quickly, sometimes within a few minutes, whether the application will be approved, denied, or forwarded to an underwriter. ...

The interest rate used in calculating the initial mortgage payment in qualifying a borrower. The rate used in qualifying borrowers may or may not be the initial rate on the mortgage. On ...

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 ...

Popular Mortgage Questions