Governments, community groups to get first crack at foreclosed homes.
Cash investors hunting for abandoned and foreclosed properties will take a back seat to buyers using federal housing money under an "unprecedented" agreement with the nation’s largest private lenders.
The "First Look" program, announced Wednesday, gives local governments and community groups using Neighborhood Stabilization money the first crack at buying bank-owned homes in areas hit hard by the real estate crash.
While plans to spend stabilization money differ among organizations, the general intent of the nearly $6 billion awarded nationwide is to refurbish and eventually sell or rent the homes to low- to middle-income families.