It is the first step to help cities and counties fight foreclosures.
Nearly $4 billion dollars in federal funding from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is about to flow into communities across the U.S. to deal with the foreclosure crisis.
South Florida's cut is more than $140 million dollars.
Here's how you can get a share:
If you are a first time home buyer who is looking for a primary residence and qualifies for assistance, then you might be able to purchase a foreclosed home. You need to contact your city or county and see if they have Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) money available.
Here's a breakdown of the grants in South Florida:
SOUTH FLORIDA GRANT MONEY:
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY $62,207,200.11
BROWARD COUNTY $17,767,588.93
MIAMI $12,063,702.18
MIRAMAR $9,312,657.81
HOLLYWOOD $7,534,603.03
MIAMI GARDENS CITY $6,866,119.02
HIALEAH $5,385,046.04
TAMARAC $4,772,218.49
SUNRISE $3,494,985.59
POMPANO BEACH $4,366,156.92
PEMBROKE PINES $4,398,575.04
LAUDERHILL $4,293,287.80
FT LAUDERDALE $3,700,096.38
CORAL SPRINGS $3,378,141.82
HOMESTEAD CITY $2,887,009.65
NORTH MIAMI $2,847,088.52
MARGATE $2,106,554.95
PLANTATION $2,016,308.73
DEERFIELD BEACH $2,005,699.10
Cities and counties and working right now to figure out how to spend the dollars. They will submit their proposals to the federal government by December 1st. The dollars should arrive after January 15th.
The goal of the program is to revitalize and redevelop foreclosed homes. Cities and counties can purchase foreclosed homes and sell them or they can use the money to offer grants to buyers for down payments. The homes will be purchased for less than market value.
"We don't want to have vacant properties for any length of time sitting in neighborhoods," said Marty Larsen of Community Redevelopment Associations of Florida. "It's not good, it's counterproductive to market values, it's counterproductive to everything we want to do in having good, safe quality neighborhoods."
The homes that will be sold will likely be $250,000 and under. The program aims for homeowners to stay within their means. For instance, their mortgage payment must be no more than 30-35% of their monthly gross income.
Here's another bonus -- the HUD money will also be used to fix up foreclosed homes and "green" them. That means the homes will likely have energy efficient appliances, upgraded insulation and other upgrades, like hurricane shutters.
So if there's a $200,000 dollar house and you qualify for a $150,000 dollar mortgage this grant program could provide the difference. And after all the upgrades the home will likely be worth more than $200,000.
However, if you sell the house you must pay the program back any money you received. That way, the funds can be used to help someone else.
