WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced an important resource for first-time home buyers with its First Look™ program. The two biggest players in the mortgage market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are now giving non-investor shoppers 20-day exclusive rights to bid on and buy new listings they are selling.

During the 20-day “first look” period, investors will be excluded from submitting bids. To qualify, non-investor buyers will need to commit to making the home their principal residence for at least a year. The idea, according to Fannie and Freddie officials, is to encourage greater owner occupancy, stabilize neighborhoods that have seen significant numbers of foreclosures and generally help out shoppers who find it difficult to outbid all-cash investors.

All-cash purchases of homes hit a high mark last month, according to RealtyTrac, a housing data firm. A stunning 42% of all residential sales nationwide went to buyers who paid cash — the highest rate since RealtyTrac began measuring the phenomenon in early 2011, and nearly double what it was as recently as May.

First-time buyers looking for affordably priced homes have been hit especially hard by the profusion of investors waving cash at sellers. They locate a home that fits their budget, make an offer with a mortgage contingency and then lose the sale to an investor who has no financing requirements. A mortgage contingency ties the contract to the ability of the bidder to obtain a loan, which slows the process and often makes the offer less attractive to the seller.

Fannie and Freddie have large inventories of foreclosed homes for sale — byproducts of the economic woes of 2008-10. As of mid-December, Fannie had roughly 35,000 houses listed for sale around the country through its HomePath (HomePath.com) program. Freddie Mac had 13,000 active listings in its HomeSteps (HomeSteps.com) program. Buyers can access the listings online by state, city and price range, then submit offers through a participating realty agent.

First Look is designed to promote owner occupancy and allows both families and public sector entities to submit offers on Fannie Mae-owned properties without competition from investors. Fannie Mae believes that selling move-in ready properties to owner-occupant buyers contributes to neighborhood stabilization and reduces taxpayer losses.  Prospective buyers can search for properties and easily identify how many days remain on a property’s First Look period by visiting www.HomePath.com. The First Look logo appears next to each qualifying property.

Nevada has a 30-day period for owner-occupants to submit an offer without competition, which will remain unchanged. The change is effective for properties listed on or after January 2, 2014.

Fannie Mae enables people to buy, refinance, or rent a home. Visit https://www.fanniemae.com/progress for more information.

Just in time for that new year’s toast,  Drinks Americas (OTC: DKAM) a leading U.S. broker for authentic Mexican beer announces its leading brand Day of the Dead Beer now being distributed with Classico Fine Wine and Spirits, a local family owned business since 2002. Classico covers the entire state of Arizona and has a team of dedicated people to support the market. They have had huge response already from strong retail accounts such as Whole Foods, AJ’s High-End Supermarket, Cost Plus and Total Wines.

“Classico is the distributor that has made Day of the Dead Draft Beer available in Arizona. This brand is the first Mexican craft beer and sales have being fantastic. The product has gained great momentum and more customers are buying it every day, helping create a brand and making those beers a year around product” commented Dario Soldan, President, Classico Distributor L.L.C

Classico and Day of the Dead are at the right place at the right time. According to the Brewers Association, craft beer in the U.S. is growing at 14% and furthermore according to the Global Agricultural Information Network, June 2013, Mexican craft beer is growing at 60%.

Drinks Americas mission is to identify and invest the majority of our brand-building resources on those with the greatest growth potential such as Day of the Dead Craft Beer.

Drinks Americas is the exclusive United States broker for leading premium authentic Mexican beers currently present in over 32 states and is on target to be the leading broker for this growing category in each of the markets in which it operates. All the beers are brewed in Mexico’s third largest brewery, Cerveceria Mexicana, which is proudly Mexican owned and uses state of the art processes, fermentation and aging systems. Drinks Americas leading premium authentic Mexican beer brands includes specialty craft beer Day of the Dead, Mexicali™, Rio Bravo™, Red Pig™ and Chili Beer™. Drinks Americas (DKAM) brands continues to forge strong connections with consumers through some of the largest retailers and restaurants in the country.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this release, including the description of the company and its product offerings, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the historical volatility and low trading volume of our stock, the risk and uncertainties inherent in the early stages of growth companies, the company’s need to raise substantial additional capital to proceed with its business, risks associated with competitors, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company’s most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be.

Monday, the Dow ended the day up 25.88 points, or 0.2%, to 16,504.29. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell less than a point to 1,841.07 and the technology-heavy NASDAQ composite fell 2.39 points, or 0.1%, to 4,154.20. Benchmark U.S. crude for February delivery ended the day down $1.03, closing at $99.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

55 TAX BREAKS EXPIRE AT YEAR END

In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty — once again — for millions of individuals and businesses. Lawmakers let these tax breaks lapse almost every year, even though they save businesses and individuals billions of dollars. And almost every year, Congress eventually renews them, retroactively, so taxpayers can claim them by the time they file their tax returns. Not so far. Trade groups and tax experts complain that Congress is making it impossible for businesses and individuals to plan for the future. What if lawmakers don’t renew the tax break you depend on? Or what if they change it and you’re no longer eligible?

HOME ELECTRICITY USE FALLING TO 2001 LEVELS

The average amount of electricity consumed in U.S. homes has fallen to levels last seen more than a decade ago, back when the smartest device in people’s pockets was a Palm pilot and anyone talking about a tablet was probably an archaeologist or a preacher. Because of more energy-efficient housing, appliances and gadgets, power usage is on track to decline in 2013 for the third year in a row, to 10,819 kilowatt-hours per household, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the lowest level since 2001, when households averaged 10,535 kwh. And the drop has occurred even though our lives are more electrified.

MEDICAID GROWTH CREATES GAP OF 5 MILLION WITHOUT COVERAGE

About 5 million people will be without health care next year that they would have gotten simply if they lived somewhere else in America. They make up a coverage gap in President Barack Obama’s signature health care law created by the domino effects of last year’s Supreme Court ruling and states’ subsequent policy decisions. The court effectively left it up to states to decide whether to open Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled, to more people, primarily poor working adults without children. Twenty-five states declined. That leaves 4.8 million people in those states without the health care coverage that their peers elsewhere are getting through the expansion of Medicaid, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation estimate. More than one-fifth of them live in Texas alone, Kaiser’s analysis found.

SIGNED CONTRACTS TO BUY US HOMES LEVEL OFF

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy existing homes in November was essentially unchanged from October, suggesting sales are stabilizing after several months of declines. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index ticked up to 101.7 from 101.5 in October. The October figure was revised lower from an initial reading of 102.1. Higher mortgage rates and strong price gains over the past two years have slowed sales. The pending home sales index had fallen for five straight months before November. And completed sales of existing homes fell for three straight months, the Realtors said earlier this month.

FEDS ANNOUNCE TEST SITES FOR DRONE AIRCRAFT

Six states were named by federal officials to develop test sites for drones — a critical next step for the burgeoning industry that could one day produce thousands of unmanned aircraft for use by businesses, farmers and researchers. Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia will host the research sites, providing diverse climates, geography and air traffic environments as the Federal Aviation Administration seeks to safely introduce commercial drones into U.S. airspace. An industry-commissioned study has predicted more than 70,000 jobs would develop in the first three years after Congress loosens drone restrictions on U.S. skies. The same study projects an average salary range for a drone pilot between $85,000 and $115,000.

RUSSIA BOMBINGS KILL 31, RAISE CONCERN ON OLYMPICS

Two suicide bombings in as many days have killed 31 people and raised concerns that Islamic militants have begun a terrorist campaign in Russia that could stretch into the Sochi Olympics in February. Russian and international Olympic officials insisted the site of the games, protected by layers of security, is completely safe. The attacks in Volgograd, about 400 miles (650 kilometres) from Sochi, reflected the Kremlin’s inability to uproot Islamist insurgents in the Caucasus who have vowed to derail the games, the pet project of President Vladimir Putin.

SALES OF FORD VEHICLES TO TOP 2.4 MILLION IN 2013

Ford says 2013 North American sales of cars and trucks bearing its namesake brand will top 2.4 million, making Ford again the top-selling U.S. brand over Toyota. The automaker says it will sell more than 600,000 passenger cars this year, the most since 2000, with the strongest demand coming from the West and Southeast. Ford says it has seen double-digit sales growth across all segments — cars, trucks and utility vehicles. Growth has been led by demand for the Ford Fiesta small car, Ford Fusion midsize sedan, C-Max hybrid and the Ford Escape SUV.

COOPER TIRE ENDS BUYOUT AGREEMENT WITH APOLLO

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is calling off its sale to India’s Apollo Tyres, unraveling a $2.2 billion deal announced just over six months ago. Cooper said financing is no longer available and it continues to claim, as it has for months, that Apollo breached the terms of the agreement. Apollo said after the announcement Monday, which it called disappointing, that it may pursue legal remedies.