KANSAS CITY, MO -
A Kansas City man moved into his new home on Thursday, putting a foreclosed property back on the tax rolls as the first Kansas City house successfully reoccupied under President Barack Obama's stimulus-backed Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
For Ed Wynn, cutting the ribbon on his new home feels like a dream come true. He says that he has been trying to become a home owner for three years, and it had never worked out until he learned of a federal program which buys, rehabs and sells foreclosed homes to preapproved buyers.
The federal government give those who buy foreclosed homes up to 20 percent of the sale price as a forgiveable loan to cover down payment and closing costs.
"You couple that with the $8,000 homebuyers tax credit and people who get out and take advantage of this program are really going to have a great house," said Mark Stalsworth of Neighborhood Housing Services, which is currently rehabbing about a dozen home it has purchased under the program.
With more than $7 million in stimulus money to repopulate foreclosed neighborhoods, Kansas City's effort has been slow going. It has taken nearly a year to get the first home reoccupied.
"This is a completely reimbursable program," said City Council member Sharon Sanders Brooks. "That caused some delay in getting it started because the city had to provide upfront dollars for property developers to purchase homes and also rehab them."
A family of four can qualify for the program with up to $84,000 in incomme. Not-for-profit developers say that now that Kansas City has had a success story, once buyers find foreclosed homes they want they should be able to close on the sale in about 45 days.
For more information on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program or to get pre-approved for a loan, check out http://www.nspkc.org.
For Ed Wynn, cutting the ribbon on his new home feels like a dream come true. He says that he has been trying to become a home owner for three years, and it had never worked out until he learned of a federal program which buys, rehabs and sells foreclosed homes to preapproved buyers.
The federal government give those who buy foreclosed homes up to 20 percent of the sale price as a forgiveable loan to cover down payment and closing costs.
"You couple that with the $8,000 homebuyers tax credit and people who get out and take advantage of this program are really going to have a great house," said Mark Stalsworth of Neighborhood Housing Services, which is currently rehabbing about a dozen home it has purchased under the program.
With more than $7 million in stimulus money to repopulate foreclosed neighborhoods, Kansas City's effort has been slow going. It has taken nearly a year to get the first home reoccupied.
"This is a completely reimbursable program," said City Council member Sharon Sanders Brooks. "That caused some delay in getting it started because the city had to provide upfront dollars for property developers to purchase homes and also rehab them."
A family of four can qualify for the program with up to $84,000 in incomme. Not-for-profit developers say that now that Kansas City has had a success story, once buyers find foreclosed homes they want they should be able to close on the sale in about 45 days.
For more information on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program or to get pre-approved for a loan, check out http://www.nspkc.org.
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