Sometime next spring, an undetermined number of residents in Selma might soon get to realize their dream of owning their own home for an affordable price.

At the same time, an unknown number of foreclosed homes in Selma will no longer look like eyesores and will be able to house these new homeowners.

That's all thanks to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grant, a federally funded program -- through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development -- which aims to purchase foreclosed homes to refurbish and revamp in order to resell the homes to middle and low-income families.

This program was created from the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and was written into law in July.

In Fresno County, HUD should be awarding a total of just more than $7 million in funds for this program. The city of Fresno should receive almost $11 million as well.

The city of Selma, along with 14 other Fresno County cities like Sanger, Calwa and Fowler, will be considered for this grant.

These cities were considered based on an analysis of the county which ranked each city by things like greatest percentage foreclosed homes, or cities with a large percentage of homes that were financed with subprime mortgages.

Recent county documents indicate Selma has 81 foreclosed homes on record, along with 74 homes with notices of default and a rate of almost 6 percent of subprime mortgages.

Overall, there's an estimated total of 20 to 30 foreclosed homes in Fresno county cities that are going to be bought, refurbished and then sold to income-eligible families, said Yvette Quiroga, program manager for the grant in Fresno County's community development division.

However, Quiroga also said a plan for the county program is currently being reviewed by HUD, so this won't be getting off the ground until at least March 2009.

But once the county receives the money, Quiroga said the county will work fast to purchase foreclosed homes, renovate them and then sell them to eligible families.

"We are hoping that we are going to be able to help these communities wherever possible," she said.

These foreclosed homes will be bought by the county from local banks and real estate companies at 15 percent below their market price.

The revamped homes will then be sold to families for the same price which the county initially paid to a bank or real estate company, Quiroga said.

Another portion of the county's allocation from this grant will go to help provide mortgage assistance to these families, in order for them to purchase these rehabilitated homes.

Still, it's unknown how many foreclosed homes will be purchased in each community. It's also unknown how many families in each Fresno County city will be eligible for these houses and for mortgage assistance.

This is due to a few factors, Quiroga said.

"It depends on how many foreclosures are in a community and what we can purchase...it's all speculative based on the market, and how many foreclosures happen," she said.

This means that one or two foreclosed homes in Selma could be purchased, renovated and sold to families, while a greater or lesser number could be purchased and sold in those other cities.

Nonetheless, none of this will be determined until the county actually receives its allocation sometime in the spring.

In Selma, City Manager D-B Heusser said the city believes this is a worthwhile endeavor.

"We think anything that helps with this is a great program, we're very supportive of it," he said.

Heusser said the city will also be working with the county in order to identify foreclosed houses in Selma for the program, as well as families that could be eligible for this program.

Others, like Selma City Council member Jim Avalos, said that while he believes the program is a good idea, he does have a reservation about it.

For one, Avalos said he'd like this program to help the families who used to live in foreclosed homes.

"I would want it to go to the person who actually lost their home in the first place, to give them a second opportunity to buy it," he said.

Still, Avalos said he believes the aim of the program is worthwhile.

"It's a good thing, you are getting someone back in a house," he said.

Details: www.co.fresno.ca.us/departmentpage.aspx?id=6004