Several housing groups want to see 7,500 metro Atlanta homes purchased and renovated over the next five years to help rebuild neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures that left many homes in disrepair.
The groups include the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Resources for Residents and Communities, Invest Atlanta and Lifecycle Building Center. The group Committed to Communities recently provided tours of some of the homes.
The groups said prospective homeowners may qualify for up to $15,000 toward the purchase and renovation of the homes under Atlanta’s NeighborhoodLIFT assistance program, a collaboration between the non-profit group NeighborWorks America and Wells Fargo Bank.
“The rebound of the housing market has inventories at early 90s levels, and builders have returned. Competition is getting fierce,” said Derrick Duckworth of Committed to Communities, a group made up of Realtors, lenders and non-profits. “This option can expand the housing inventory by tens of thousands of homes.”
The group said the effort also creates jobs.
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