( CNN ) -- Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac , and the Federal Housing Administration own about 250,000 foreclosed properties awaiting resale . Hundreds of thousands of additional units will likely be taken over by the government and become available in the next few years . At least another 250,000 foreclosed properties are awaiting sale in the private market . This drag on the housing market is one of the reasons why housing prices continue to fall and new housing construction is stalled . All these properties could provide families with housing instead of sitting empty ( and , in some cases , looking the part ) . To increase the use of idle government properties and recover some of the massive losses on mortgages , the Obama administration is looking mainly for proposals from firms or nonprofit organizations to buy and rent out the vacant properties . The Department of Housing and Urban Development gets a gold star for this new strategy , but pursuing another approach at the same time — helping more families become homeowners — would take us further still toward ending the housing crisis . Both approaches would reduce rents : As more renters buy vacant homes , demand for rentals will ease , and renting out vacant units will increase the supply of rental housing . Both approaches are also likely to jack up demand for idle or underemployed construction workers , who 'd be needed to repair and renovate the properties . Right now , millions of families are paying more in rent than the monthly carrying costs of owning a comparable property . In 2009 , 3 million families with children and annual household incomes below $ 30,000 were paying more than $ 800 per month in rent , according to the 2009 American Community Survey . If they can pay that much , they could certainly afford homes costing at least $ 115,000 — well above the value of homes at the 25th percentile of the price curve . With better access to financing , they could take advantage of bargain prices on foreclosed or other properties , and homeownership would immediately cut renters ' housing costs and lock in great rates . Some past efforts at promoting homeownership failed when bad mortgages supported housing costs far higher than monthly rents on the expectation of home price appreciation . But that does n't mean we ca n't learn from past mistakes or take advantage of the current market context to make a major dent in family housing costs by using idle housing and human resources . As we spell out in our book , `` Moving Working Families Forward , '' the government could create 1 million homeownership vouchers to cover the carrying costs of homes up to the 25th percentile of area home prices . Given today 's low-home prices , such a plan would cost no more than about $ 3 billion per year and could be at least partially financed by phasing out the more costly and supply-oriented Low-Income Housing Tax Credit , which offers a reduction in tax liability to property owners and private investors who develop low-income housing — and is a corporate honey pot that yields high profits and relatively few units for low-income families . A second approach would use turnkey programs . Firms and nonprofit organizations would purchase homes , qualify the buyers through credit counseling and credit repair , ready buyers for homeownership , make modest renovations and repairs , and sell the properties . With this option , like the homeowner voucher , government could lay claim to a modest share of any capital gain ( say 15 % -20 % ) when the property is resold . Among others , the Neighborhood Reinvestment Group of Cleveland is already trying the turnkey approach . Starting with unused housing from the Cuyahoga County land bank , the company hired local construction workers and trained the unemployed to spiff up the units , helped renters correct and raise their credit scores enough to qualify for low interest mortgages and down payment assistance , helped them get financing , and walked the families through the sale . Some renters took classes offered in financial literacy , too . On average , the renters reduced their monthly housing expenditures by a minimum of 25 % , including taxes and insurance . As the project scales up to involve scores of properties , it will create new jobs and training opportunities for underutilized construction workers . Scaling up either homeownership initiative would be a move in the right direction , and either approach would help millions of middle income and near-poor families limit their housing costs . Finally , targeting demand policies toward housing can cost-effectively reinvigorate the broader economic recovery because of the close links between construction , manufacturing , and other industries . Just as important , by taking depressed units out of the housing market , the outlook for future housing prices will improve . This will reduce future foreclosures as more homeowners will make their payments rather than walking away from their mortgage commitments . It might even be enough to invigorate new housing construction . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Lerman and Robert Cherry .
Lerman , Cherry : Hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes drag on housing market . They say government should help families buy these properties ; ease rental market . They say fixing up unused housing for homeownership would create construction jobs . Writers : Upping homeownership would help families , invigorate economy and provide jobs .