Freddie Mac Optigo Conventional:
2026 multifamily lending guide

Everything multifamily lenders, sponsors, and operators need to know about Freddie Mac's Optigo Conventional platform — fixed-rate, floating-rate, ARMs, structured executions, supplementals, and forwards — current as of 2026.

What is Freddie Mac Optigo?

Optigo is Freddie Mac Multifamily's lending network — a small group of approved Seller/Servicers (~25 firms nationwide) that originate, underwrite, and service multifamily loans that Freddie Mac purchases, aggregates, and securitizes. Optigo has been the platform name since 1993, when Freddie Mac formalized its delegated-style multifamily program.

The Optigo model works because of risk-sharing alignment. Seller/Servicers retain a portion of credit risk on the loans they originate through loss-sharing tiers and credit retention agreements, which incentivizes disciplined underwriting and gives Freddie Mac confidence to delegate origination authority. That alignment is why a handful of Optigo firms originate the majority of conventional multifamily debt that flows to Freddie Mac each year.

On this page you'll find a current snapshot of every active Optigo Conventional execution — Fixed-Rate, Floating-Rate, Structured Loans, Supplementals, Forward Commitments, Index Lock / Early Rate Lock, and Sustainability Bonds — plus eligibility highlights, the 2026 FHFA volume cap, and answers to the questions multifamily borrowers ask most.

Optigo Conventional executions at a glance (2026)

The table below summarizes Freddie Mac's seven primary Optigo Conventional executions, including minimum loan size, maximum term, leverage caps, and minimum DSCR. The mission badge denotes executions whose volume can count toward FHFA's 50% mission-driven requirement (typically via green/affordability-labeled wrappers).

Execution deep-dives

Fixed-Rate (5/7/10/12yr)

The Fixed-Rate execution is the Optigo Conventional workhorse: standard conventional financing for stabilized 5+ unit multifamily properties at term lengths of 5, 7, 10, or 12 years (typically with 30-year amortization). Minimum loan size starts around $5M, leverage tops out at 75% LTV with a 1.25x DSCR, and rates are tiered — sponsors trade higher DSCR coverage for lower coupons. Most Optigo Seller/Servicers offer Index Lock or Early Rate Lock alongside the Fixed-Rate execution to manage Treasury risk through closing.

Floating-Rate

The Floating-Rate execution prices off SOFR plus a spread and is favored when sponsors want flexibility — shorter expected hold periods, anticipated refinance or sale, or value-add business plans. Minimum loan size is $5M, terms run up to 10 years, and leverage tops out at 75% LTV / 1.25x DSCR. Borrowers can buy a SOFR rate cap or elect a no-cap structure depending on Freddie Mac sizing requirements. Prepayment penalties are far softer than fixed-rate (typically 1-year lockout with declining or no premium thereafter).

Structured Loans

Structured Loans cover non-stabilized transactions: bridge financing, lease-up takeout, and value-add executions. Minimum loan size is $10M, terms run up to 7 years, and leverage can reach 80% LTV at 1.20x DSCR. Common use cases include construction-to-permanent financing, lease-up takeouts after a property hits 50–80% occupancy, and value-add holds where the sponsor needs runway to push rents through renovation. Structured Loans require more underwriting documentation and typically include performance milestones and interest-only periods.

Supplemental Loans

Supplemental Loans are subordinate, second-position add-ons to an existing Optigo first mortgage — used by sponsors who want to monetize appreciation or fund cap-ex without refinancing into a higher coupon. Minimum loan size is $1M, term matches the underlying first mortgage, and combined leverage is capped at 80% LTV with a 1.25x DSCR. Supplementals are typically eligible 12 months after the first-mortgage funding and require Freddie Mac and Optigo Seller/Servicer approval. Pricing is wider than a first mortgage, reflecting the subordinate position.

Forward Commitments

Forward Commitments lock a permanent loan rate today for delivery 12–36 months in the future, taking out new construction or substantial rehab. Minimum loan size is $5M, terms vary by underlying execution, and leverage is 75% LTV / 1.25x DSCR. Forward Commitments are particularly common in TAH transactions where developers need rate certainty to close LIHTC equity, but they're available on Optigo Conventional as well. Pricing includes a forward spread that compensates Freddie Mac for the rate-risk window.

Index Lock / Early Rate Lock

Index Lock and Early Rate Lock are rate-management tools rather than standalone executions. Index Lock lets a borrower lock the Treasury index portion of the rate before closing (typically once application is signed and third-party reports are underway), reducing exposure to Treasury volatility. Early Rate Lock extends the full rate-lock window further out — up to 60–120 days pre-close — for an additional fee. Both are offered through Optigo Seller/Servicers on Fixed-Rate executions and have become standard sponsor requests in volatile-rate environments.

Sustainability Bonds

Sustainability Bonds are Freddie Mac green-labeled MBS — securitizations tagged with green or social-impact attributes that ESG-focused investors price more tightly. Minimum loan size is $5M, terms run up to 12 years, and leverage is 75% LTV / 1.25x DSCR. The label requires the underlying loan to meet a defined sustainability standard (significant energy/water reduction, certified green building, or affordability metrics). Sustainability Bonds count toward FHFA's 50% mission-driven threshold and are one of the few Optigo Conventional wrappers that do.

2026 volume cap & the mission-driven requirement

FHFA set the 2026 Freddie Mac multifamily purchase cap at $88 billion, announced in December 2025 — roughly a 20% increase over the 2025 cap. At least 50% of that volume must qualify as mission-driven: properties affordable at or below 80% AMI, workforce housing, manufactured housing communities, seniors housing at low-AMI thresholds, and certain Utility Efficiency-qualifying loans.

Workforce housing, manufactured housing communities, seniors housing units at ≤80% AMI, and Utility Efficiency-qualifying loans are exempt from counting against the cap, which gives Optigo Seller/Servicers meaningful runway on transactions that meet FHFA's housing-mission criteria.

A Freddie-specific nuance worth flagging: mission-driven attribution flows primarily through Targeted Affordable Housing (TAH) rather than the Optigo Conventional book. Vanilla Optigo Conventional loans typically do not count as mission-driven on their own — they qualify only when wrapped as Utility Efficiency-qualifying loans (with binding energy/water reduction commitments) or labeled as Sustainability Bonds. This drives back-half pricing on Optigo Conventional: Seller/Servicers chasing the 50% threshold push hardest on TAH and the qualifying wrappers, and conventional sponsors with green attributes can capture sharper spreads as a result.

Optigo Conventional eligibility essentials

The core borrower and property requirements that apply across Optigo Conventional executions:

• Borrower: single-asset U.S. entity (typically Delaware LLC); experienced multifamily operator; carve-out guarantor with a track record
• Property: stabilized — 90%+ occupancy for 90 days prior to funding (with limited exceptions for forward and structured executions)
• Minimum units: 5 residential units (50 pad sites for manufactured housing communities)
• Recourse: non-recourse to the borrowing entity, with standard bad-boy carve-outs (fraud, voluntary bankruptcy, environmental, unauthorized transfer)
• Commercial space: up to 35% of net rentable area and 20% of effective gross income may be commercial
• Assumability: fully assumable subject to Optigo Seller/Servicer approval and a 1% assumption fee

Frequently asked questions