Friday, Jul. 15, 2011

Nearly 30 foreclosed homes off market, have new owners

Credit shared by city, Habitat and feds

Nearly 30 foreclosed homes are off the market thanks to the city's participation in a federal program, a Los Banos official said.

Redevelopment Agency Director Elaine Post said so far 29 homes have been purchased through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and only four remain without homeowners.

"This is exceeding our expectations," Post said. "We are not only getting homes off the market, we are providing local jobs."

Los Banos was given $2.4 million to purchase and rehabilitate houses, and provide gap funding for homeowners. Post said many of the foreclosed homes required between $2,300 and $2,800 in repair. She said local contractors were used to do the work.

"The neighbors of the homes we bought really appreciate it because we even keep the lawns cut while we're waiting to sell the homes," Post said.

The local chapter of Habitate for Humanity was given $1 million to purchase and repair homes for people with low incomes. Post said 10 of the 29 homes were bought by Habitate and they all have owners.

Ned Ryan, the president of Habitate Westside, said he was happy with the program because it allowed his group to work on 10 homes without changing how it does business.

"They didn't make us change our structure of volunteerism and having the homeowner working on the home. A lot of government programs want you to do things their way," Ryan said.

Post said the personal preference of potential homeowners has kept four of the homes from being sold.

"I can go look at the four homes and go, 'that's not what I want,' " Post said, describing the reaction of some of the qualified applicants on the program's waiting list.

The number of foreclosures has been a serious issue for the town since 2008. In early 2009, City Manager Steve Rath predicted that 3,500 of Los Banos' 10,000 homes will have gone through foreclosure before the housing market bounces back.

Post said the city has generated "program income" from the sale of homes. The federal government mandates that money be spent on the program. Post said there's about $250,000 left out of the original $2.4 million Los Banos was awarded for the program. She said that money and an additional $1 million in program income will be used to purchase more foreclosed homes in the next year.

Reporter Corey Pride can be reached at (209) 388-6563 or cpride@losbanosenterprise.com.