HomeSteps® Receives First Annual Pinnacle Award for Being Nation's Top Non-Bank REO Sales Operation

MCLEAN, Va., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- HomeSteps®,  Freddie Mac's (NYSE: FRE) real estate sales unit, was honored as the nation's top non-bank REO sales organization at the real estate industry's first annual Pinnacle Awards in Dallas on June 6.

HomeSteps is headquartered outside of Dallas, Texas.  In 2009, HomeSteps sold more than 65,000 REO homes, two-thirds of them to first-time and seasoned homebuyers.

"To take home top honors at the first annual Pinnacle awards is very exciting and comes at a time when the REO business has become so important to the housing recovery, our company, and our mission to support homeownership and stabilize communities," said Chris Bowden, Vice President of HomeSteps.  "We're especially thrilled because this recognition comes directly from the real estate professionals themselves and validates that our team's hard work is making a difference in the industry."

Over the past year, HomeSteps launched its SmartBuy sales promotion combining closing cost assistance with a two-year limited warranty on eligible properties, conducted crowded auctions for first-time homebuyers as part of the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and expanded its national network of real estate brokers.

"HomeSteps has always played a critical role helping Freddie Mac manage its REO inventory and mitigating losses," said Ingrid Beckles, Senior Vice President, Default Asset Management at Freddie Mac. "Today HomeSteps is going beyond that in the current market by stabilizing communities and providing a gateway to affordable housing opportunities for first-time and seasoned homebuyers.  HomeSteps is working."

Sponsored by REO Insider magazine, the new Pinnacle Awards honor organizations for outstanding performance in a number of key aspects of the REO business. Honorees were selected on the basis of an independent nationwide survey of more than 3,200 real estate professionals. The survey was commissioned by REO Insider and conducted by M/A/R/C Research in January.

For more information, visit www.HomeSteps.com or call 800-972-7555.

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

SOURCE Freddie Mac