No, Fannie Mae does not require the property to be habitable at the time of closing. If the home is not habitable, the borrower may finance up to six months of principal, interest, tax, and insurance payments to cover these costs while the home is uninhabitable.

Yes. HomeStyle Refresh is available for use by any approved Fannie Mae lender, and it doesn’t require special approval. If using HomeStyle Refresh to pay for future improvements, the lender must be able to operationally support the transaction, such as administering escrow accounts and monitoring completion of the work. This operational support is not needed for the payoff of other existing energy-related improvement financing through the limited cash-out refinance option since the completion of the improvements would occur prior to the transaction. 

Delivery of HomeStyle Renovation loans continues to require special lender approval when the lender delivers loans to Fannie Mae prior to the completion of the renovation.

HomeStyle® Refresh allows borrowers to finance a wide range of property improvements, including cosmetic updates, energy efficiency upgrades, resiliency enhancements, disaster preparedness measures, and environmental remediation. Eligible improvements can total up to 15% of the home’s “as-completed” appraised value, and may also include paying off higher-interest energy-related debt such as PACE loans. Additional details can be found in the Selling Guide B5-3.3-01.