I wish I was writing to tell you all I won the Mega Millions this last week. No such luck! But Fauquier & Culpeper county are a little richer thanks to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Fauquier County was awarded $1.5 million. Culpeper got $1.2 million. The money will be used to buy, rehab and resell foreclosures in neighborhoods hard hit by the real estate downturn.

In Fauquier that means the southern end of the county. In Culpeper think Lakeview for sure.

I got one thing wrong in my earlier blog about this. I thought it would be too late in the process for them to get the money. They met the deadline but given the money already awarded and the competition I really didn't think Fauquier & Culpeper would get any.

It's too soon to know if I was right about my other reservation. The foreclosures are getting fewer and fewer and almost always involve bidding wars these days. It'll be interesting to see what the counties are actually able to purchase with this money.  There are plenty of short sales, just not so many foreclosures these days.

Virginia was awarded $38.7 million from the federal government to buy foreclosed homes. This was part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. And, Virginia's been trying to get rid of it ever since!

The program is called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The funds are designed to allow local communities to purchase foreclosed homes and then to rehabilitate, resell and/or redevelop these properties to stem the decline of housing values in a neighborhood.

And, even better, it's then possible to combine this with other programs to help local police, teachers, firefighters, etc. to become homeowners.

So, why is the Commonwealth having so much trouble giving this money away?

They recently sent representatives to the mid-year Virginia Association of REALTORs meeting to drum up interest among real estate agents. The Commonwealth has sponsored a series of seminars around the state to inform localities about the program and how to apply. And, still, much of the money goes unused.

I know it's not because local communities don't have a problem with foreclosures! Ask anyone in Lakeview in Culpeper if they'd like to see some homes bought up by the government to help stabilize housing prices!

So, I'm going to theorize why the money sits there.

1. Local governments view the burden of taking this project on as requiring too many resources. There is, of course, paperwork to be submitted. Appropriate neighborhoods must be found and data on the property values and vacancy rates obtained. The requirements state that a qualified pool of buyers must be available. Once homes are bought with this money, they must be rehabbed and then sold. Potential buyers must be screened, etc. This probably all sounds overwhelming to local governments already spread thin.

Solution: Partner with local real estate agents, Habitat for Humanity and other local groups who can contribute expertise. Form a task force to make this happen. I'll volunteer my time to make this work!

2. A belief that there aren't any neighborhoods that qualify. They're looking at neighborhoods that have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% foreclosure rate.

Solution: But "neighborhood" is defined by the local entity and as long as you can justify why you chose that as a "neighborhood" it shouldn't be too hard to find areas that would qualify. Heck, last time I checked there were enough foreclosures in Rappahannock County to qualify!

3. The word hasn't gotten out and local governments don't know about the program.

Solution: I'm doing my bit here. I hope other bloggers will add their voices. Local press can help. And local communities of individuals who might benefit, i.e. teachers, police, fire fighters, can let their local governments know they'd like to see this program used here.

There was a story in yesterday's Culpeper Start Exponent about a couple in Culpeper county who are losing their home to foreclosure. It's just one of the many painful stories out there. This couple is right in saying they're not alone. Not even close!

The article also briefly discusses where the foreclosures are concentrated. As you'd expect, most of them are in the recent developments in Culpeper. Lakeview, the largest of those developments, is the hardest hit. But the other new developments along 522 aren't far behind.

Time to take a closer look at one of those really hard hit Culpeper subdivisions, Lakeview.

Construction in Lakeview started about six years ago and is just about finishing now. In this market that pretty much guarantees that anyone who about in the first few years has seen the value of their homes decline substantially.

The completed subdivision is supposed to have approximately 600 homes, a combination of single family homes and townhomes.

There are currently 45 homes listed for sale in Lakeview. Of those 9 are new construction. Thirty three of those homes are vacant. 17 are foreclosures. 7 have been disclosed as short sales. Although disclosing this in the listing is a requirement, it doesn't always happen. So there may be additional short sales that aren't clearly flagged.

The cheapest townhouse here is $188,500. The cheapest detached home is $216,000. The most expensive townhouse is $239,000. The most expensive detached home is $399,000.

The good news is that 34 homes sold in this community in the last year. So things are selling. The bad news is probably best shown in the most recent sale, one that closed just this week.

A brick detached home with a side-loading two car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a full, unfinished basement sold for a net of $222,450.

Considering that there are townhouses listed for considerably more than that at the moment, prices still have a ways to fall here. Even the nicest homes in this subdivision will have trouble commanding prices close to $400,000 given these kind of comparables in the neighborhood. And, if you should get lucky enough to get that kind of offer, I wouldn't count on getting an appraisal that comes in at or above purchase price.

Culpeper remains one of the hardest hit areas, even more so in newer subdivisions such as Lakeview. But if you're bargain hunting, this is a promising place to look!