Codina will offer Fannie Mae lending programs to owners of multifamily residential properties as part of its Real Estate Services Group mortgage and investment banking services.

Steve Nostrand, Codina's director of mortgage and investment banking, tells GlobeSt.com that as a correspondent for Collateral, Codina will directly originate, process, underwrite and deliver small-loan programs, construction-and-rehabilitation loans, senior-housing loans, manufactured-housing loans and acquisition-and-permanent refinancing loans for apartment projects.

"Fannie Mae interest rates are probably the most competitive of any lending product," says Nostrand. The primary reason is that Fannie Mae uses like-term Treasuries as the index for its loans, unlike most banks which use the prime rate combined with a floor or minimum rate.

For example, he says that as of Jan. 2, the interest on a five-year Fannie Mae loan was lower than 6.5%, compared to 7% or 7.5% elsewhere.

Not everybody can qualify for a Fannie Mae, Nostrand says. Applicants must have experience as a developer or owner, and the project must be underwritten to some specifications.

Also, these loans are not designed for luxury housing projects, but for affordable housing projects such as senior housing and acquisition-and-permanent refinancing loans for apartment projects.