Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : City to Buy 50 Homes From HUD for $2.3 Million : Redevelopment: The unsightly houses will be repaired and sold, with profits going to a city fund.

The City Council has agreed to spend $3.3 million in redevelopment money to buy, renovate and resell 50 deteriorating houses that were repossessed by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Councilman Michael Singer cast the only vote against the program Tuesday night, saying he did not want the city to own 50 houses, even if only for the time it will take to fix them.

“I’ve been uncomfortable with the city being involved in more and more real estate deals,” he said Wednesday. “This particular deal strikes me as being in competition with both the real estate industry and with private homeowners trying to sell their homes.”

Singer said Wednesday that he would have preferred to see the city offer low-interest loans to buyers who wanted to fix up the houses themselves.

But the remaining four council members endorsed its so-called Operation Clean Sweep.

Mayor Frank Roberts said the program is supported by local real estate agents and by residents who are upset about unsightly, uninhabited houses in their neighborhood. “It’s a win-win situation,” Roberts said. “You’re going to affect the whole block.”

Under the program, the city will use $2.3 million in redevelopment money to buy 50 houses from HUD. The Federal Housing Administration insured the mortgages for these houses, and HUD took possession after the original owners failed to make their payments.

HUD has agreed to sell the houses to the city at 30% less than their appraised value.

The city then plans to spend another $1 million in additional redevelopment money to hire local contractors to repair and landscape the properties.

When the houses are repaired, 25 brokers from the Antelope Valley Board of Realtors will be selected by lottery to market the homes. The listing agent will receive a 3% commission and 4% will be paid to the agent who arranges a sale. Buyers must agree to live in the house.

Proceeds from the sales will return to the city’s redevelopment fund, officials said.

Marvin McKinnon, president-elect of the Board of Realtors, said neglected HUD foreclosure houses often become illegal shelters for squatters and drug dealers.