To the average renter in and around Lake Elsinore, buying a 2,300-square-foot, two-story, four-bedroom home with a magnificent view of the lake would seem out of the question.

Such an acquisition, however, is no longer beyond the realm of possibility for low- and moderate-income earners, thanks to a federally funded program administered by the Riverside Housing Development Corporation.

The nonprofit group is this region's operator of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which receives funds funneled through the county redevelopment agency from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

The goal of the program is to get abandoned, deteriorating homes refurbished, then reoccupied by covering most or all of the down payment, enabling first-time home buyers to qualify for loans for which they normally wouldn't be eligible. They would be under no obligation to repay the down payment until they sell the home or occupy it for at least 15 years, a loan representative said.

"It's just about getting folks who have pride of ownership into these homes," said Cleve Stevens, a housing construction director with the corporation. "Having a distressed house and trash in the driveway ---- that is an element that brings danger into the neighborhood, and when you can get someone in that house who is a responsible homeowner, it eliminates that danger."

Among three homes that have been renovated so far in Lake Elsinore is a 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom home on Cape Drive in the Serenity housing tract at Palomar and Corydon streets in southern Lake Elsinore.

Stevens and Debi Myers, the corporation's housing project manager, said the abandoned home had been thoroughly trashed by vagrants and vandals before their group was able to buy it for $134,000 from the bank that held ownership.

"This house was a mess. It was filthy," said Realtor Monica Paige Swift of Westwind Realty, which is working with the corporation to market the Cape Drive home and other homes the nonprofit group buys and fixes up.

The corporation had to use about $65,000 from about $2.8 million it received in Neighborhood Stabilization funding for the Lake Elsinore area to rehabilitate the approximately 20-year home on Cape Drive. The house now boasts new carpet as well as a new refrigerator, washer and dryer; repaired, repainted walls; double-paned windows; and window blinds, among other improvements. All the appliances and fixtures are low on energy and water use, and recyclable materials were used as much as possible, Stevens said.

He said there was an emphasis on "green" improvements "so their monthly costs are manageable."

The greatly improved appearance of the property, with its revegetated landscaping and a resurrected fence, came as a relief to neighbor Marion Tolmasov. The woman in her 70s had fretted about her and the neighborhood's safety as a result of the abandoned home.

"Everything they did there is magnificent compared to what it was before," she said.

Swift said she is awaiting an appraisal on the house's value, but expects it sell somewhere in the $200,000s, a far cry from its value of more than $400,000 at the height of the housing market.

The homes that have been refurbished to date, including a four-bedroom home with the lake view on Spinnaker Drive, are among 10 purchased so far in the Lake Elsinore area, while the corporation also has acquired 18 homes in Hemet and San Jacinto along with several in Temecula, Myers said.

The Spinnaker home, located in a fairly new housing tract near Grand Avenue and Ortega Highway, required about $30,000 less work and materials than the Cape Drive property and will probably sell in the mid- to upper-$200,000 range, Myers said, about half of its value during the housing boom.

A residual benefit to the program is a boost to the local economy. Only area contractors are hired to do the work and 35 percent of the builder's purchases must come within a 10-mile radius, Stevens said.

With homes ready to sell, the corporation is accepting applications and its partner, American Financial Network Inc., is prequalifying potential buyers for loans. Only those who fall into low- to moderate-income parameters are eligible. As an example, American Financial loan officer Joe Neill said a family of four would typically qualify if household income totalled $70,000 or less.

One person who has prequalified and has his eye on the Cape Drive house is James Edward Flores. He said he heard about the possibility of getting into a home with little or no down payment when several of the program's representatives dined at the restaurant where he works for his mother and father, who also serves as a Lake Elsinore planning commissioner.

"I was a little hesitant because it sounded too good to be true," James Flores said. "I gave (Neill) all of my information and, believe it or not, he got me prequalified as a first-time home buyer."

While renting a room at his sister's house, Flores said he has been looking into the possibility of buying his own home over the last nine months, but had been unsuccessful.

"To see people try to re-establish these homes and get people back into these housing tracts ---- it's one of the best programs I've heard of in my life," he said.

Call staff writer Michael J. Williams at 951-676-4315, ext. 2635.