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

A derogatory term for lender fees that are expressed in dollars rather than as a percent of the loan amount. ...

Requirements stipulated by the lender that the ratio of housing expense to borrower income and the ratio of housing expense plus other debt service to borrower income cannot exceed ...

The interest rate used to calculate the mortgage payment. The interest rate and the payment rate are often the same, but they need not be. They must be the same if the payment is fully ...

Mortgages typically amortize over time through fixed value installment payments. However, there's a type of mortgage that doesn't: the Balloon Mortgage. It's called this way because, with ...

A multi-lender Web site that offered borrowers the capacity to shop among multiple competing lenders. ...

The policy of a second mortgage lender toward allowing a borrower to refinance the first mortgage while leaving the second in place. ...

Cost-of-Funds Index, one of many interest rate indexes used to determine interest rate adjustments on an adjustable rate mortgage. ...

The lender's risk that, between the time a lock commitment is given to the borrower and the time the loan is closed, interest rates will rise and the lender will take a loss on selling ...

The highest rate possible under an ARM contract; same as 'lifetime cap.' It is often expressed as a specified number of percentage points above the initial interest rate. ...

Popular Mortgage Questions