I was talking with my friend, Moe Paknia, the other day about the auction of foreclosures in Travis County.  The newspaper ran a story about the auctions being slower than normal.  Moe works with a lot of investors and knows the foreclosure market very well.  One of the things he is very frustrated by is the limit that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have put on the number of homes investors can finance.  That has been limited to four houses.  I don't remember the news story addressing this.

I just read a white paper by economist Mark Dotzour of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M called "Bold Government Can Solve America's Housing Crisis."  Click here for the paper.  One of the four things Dotzour talks about is creating a higher demand for houses.  He talks about giving incentives to investors to buy up vacant homes to use as rentals.  He has some good ideas, but doesn't address raising the limit on the number of homes investors can finance.

With higher down payments required, I see no reason not to raise the limit for investors.  There are people who call themselves investors who really don't have the capital and understanding to be professional investors.  However, there are plenty of very savvy people with lots of real estate investment experience.  It is these people who would be buying all over the place right now if they could.  But with the 4 house limit, they are just sitting on their hands.

Comments?  Questions?  Call me at 512-293-2422.  Click to Search Austin Homes.