Freddie Mac’s Simone Beaty talks affordable housing

This week, Simone Beaty, the director of single-family affordable lending initiatives at Freddie Mac, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss the GSE’s affordable housing initiatives, as well as what it is doing to prepare consumers for next year’s home-buying market.

During the interview, Beaty also discusses how Freddie Mac is supporting shared equity programs as many Americans continue to face financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is a small preview of the interview with Simone Beaty. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

HW:  What are some of the very unique challenges in making sure affordable housing is available for low- to moderate-income borrowers who have been affected by the COVID crisis?

Simone Beaty: What we always bump into is that demand for units has outpaced supply. So, we’re always trying to figure out how we can best deal with the supply issue and access to credit. We try to tackle both and sometimes solutions can be merged, where we are looking at flexible qualifying requirements that take into account things like nontraditional credit. We also make sure people who are not mortgage ready understand what steps they need to take to be prepared, so they are not blindly applying for a loan. Additionally, Freddie Mac offers some flexibilities for borrowers who may not meet the traditional credit profile, so if they’re not necessarily the cookie-cutter kind of creditworthy borrower, there is enough room in the qualifying requirements that give lenders the ability to make sure they can fit within the conventional lending realm.

The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate and fintech. Each week, a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.