How a “First Look Program” Supports Affordable Homeownership

The National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) was formed in 2008 as a direct response to the national foreclosure crisis, with the goal of restoring distressed single-family homes, strengthening neighborhoods, and increasing affordable homeownership opportunities for historically underserved communities. NCST facilitates the transfer of foreclosed properties in real estate-owned (REO) sales to mission-driven nonprofits who sell these homes at affordable rates.

NCST’s flagship property acquisition program, First Look, has proven to be a particularly beneficial tool in delivering REO inventory to affordable homeownership nonprofits. The First Look program allows vetted, mission-driven nonprofits and for-profit entities an exclusive opportunity to purchase properties in their communities before the units are more broadly available for sale. In many cases, REO properties may be acquired at a discounted rate to assist the financial feasibility for small and emerging developers to rehabilitate and eventually sell to eligible homeowners. The approach has produced over 28,000 transactions totaling over $1.8 billion and has provided over $325 million in savings to NCST’s community buyers.

NCST continues to enhance its property acquisition programs to ensure its community partners can continue to compete in buying and rehabilitating foreclosed properties. Most notably, NCST uses its property acquisition platform, REOMatch™, to market properties for qualified buyers to purchase foreclosed homes auctioned through FHA’s Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) program, a mechanism that streamlines the foreclosure process by allowing mortgagees to sell foreclosed properties to third parties rather than conveying the assets directly to HUD. NCST began working with this program in 2022, when FHA and HUD instituted a 30-day exclusive bidding period for qualified buyers. It continues to market CWCOT properties for its broad network of community buyers despite HUD’s recent rescission of an exclusive bidding period.

Although mandating participation of sellers in first look programs is an effective way to maximize impact, private partnerships at the local level have also proven to be a promising approach. One of NCST’s trusted community partners, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. (ANDPI), launched a first-of-its-kind partnership with corporate housing investor Pretium Partners in 2024. This program offers ANDPI an exclusive look at properties the investor plans to sell from its national inventory of more than 97,000 homes, and allows the nonprofit to rehabilitate and sell these homes to owner-occupants at below-market prices. This program offers ANDPI an exclusive look at properties the investor plans to sell from its national inventory of more than 97,000 homes, and allows the nonprofit to rehabilitate and sell these homes to owner-occupants at below-market prices.

This case study is adapted from the report Small Loans, Big Barriers: How Small-Dollar Mortgages Impact the Racial Homeownership Gap in the United States and informed by discussions with NCST staff in January 2025.