When repossessed homes are neglected, property values plummet for both the foreclosed houses and the surrounding properties. With the hope of speeding up sales and reoccupation of the many foreclosed homes in the region, the city of Perris in California has set up a $2 million fund to hire the Insta-Green company to make neglected properties presentable.

當二手屋閒置荒廢，因法拍屋波及周遭的房地產而使房價直直落。為了希望加速這個地區無數法拍屋成交入住，加州派瑞斯鎮已經撥款兩百萬美元，聘請瞬間綠公司協助，讓這些無人聞問的房地產更體面、更有賣點。

The Insta-Green crew arrived on Perris’Peppermint Drive in green caps and green shirts, carrying buckets of green paint. Their mission Convert a long-dead lawn into a lush patch of grass worthy of any golf course or polo field.

瞬間綠公司工作人員頭戴綠便帽、身穿綠襯衫，手提桶裝綠漆，到派瑞斯鎮薄荷道。他們肩負什麼任務？把早已奄奄一息的草坪起死回生，成為一片綠油油的草地，使其賣相不輸任何高爾夫球場或馬球場。

No sod or seed required, just a bit of water, a few chemicals and the willing suspension of disbelief.

不需要任何草皮或種子，只要一點點水，一些化學製劑，再加上願意相信夢想成真就行了。

Supervising it all was David Milligan, a laconic entrepreneur with an eye for opportunity and a nose for the niche market.

監督整件事的是米利根，一位說話簡練的企業家，他看到一個商機，並聞到市場利基。

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," he said modestly, as his three workers trimmed the lawn in preparation for its makeover. "The whole world is green right now."

他謙虛地說：「我只是占了天時地利之便，現在全世界都要搞綠化。」他請的三個工人正在修剪草坪，準備加以翻新美容。

Thanks to the city of Perris, Milligan is raking in a different kind of green. Not long ago the town hired his company to treat an epidemic of dead lawns fronting its more than 1,100 foreclosed homes.

得派瑞斯鎮之助，米利根正因不一樣的綠化工作而大賺美鈔。不久前，這個小鎮聘請他的公司處理鎮上1,100多家法拍屋前不斷蔓延的死亡草坪。

"We saw what was happening, so we put our heads together to try to come up with a solution to help reduce the impact of these foreclosures," said Perris Mayor Pro Tem Mark Yarbrough.

「我們眼睜睜看著這一切發生，決定集思廣益，試著想出一套解決辦法，來幫助減輕這些法拍屋所造成的衝擊，」目前擔任派瑞斯鎮鎮長的亞布洛說。

They considered watering, but it proved too costly. Then Milligan made his pitch: Why water when you can paint

他們曾考慮澆水，但代價太高。米利根提議：如果可以噴漆，何必澆水？

"They asked for a demonstration and liked what they saw," Milligan said.

「他們要求業者示範，並對所見成果表示滿意，」米利根說。

In Riverside County, where foreclosures have spread like collapsing dominoes, dousing dead grass with green paint suddenly seems perfectly reasonable. After all, this is a place where unfinished housing tracts stand like ghost towns, where people sell off prized possessions at yard sales and where a family of bobcats once moved into an empty home and hung out for days on the porch.

在河濱郡，法拍屋如倒下的骨牌不斷蔓延，在奄奄一息的草地上澆上綠色油漆突然顯得十分合理。畢竟這裡未完工的大片建屋林立，有如鬼城，當地居民在院子裡拍賣值錢的家當，還有一家山貓一度搬進空屋，還在門廊上出沒數日。

In other words, it's a great time to be Milligan.

換句話說，對米利根，這可是天賜良機。

So far he's painted about 20 lawns, charging between $400 and $700 each. After the right shade is selected, the paint is sprayed on dead grass and dirt, giving the illusion of a healthy lawn for three to four months. The paint, said Milligan, is green on more than one level. It's made of natural, biodegradable ingredients.

到目前為止，他已經為大約20塊草坪噴漆，每個草坪要價400到700美元不等。選定正確的顏色後，油漆噴灑在死亡的草皮和泥土上，給人草坪還很健康的假象，可以維持三、四個月之久。米利根說，綠色油漆有不同的層次，由可生物分解的天然成分製造。

Perris spokesman Joe Vargo said Milligan uses an environmentally friendly dye that lasts up to six months and is harmless to people and pets. The city hopes the foreclosed properties are purchased and occupied before the lawn needs a touchup.

派瑞斯鎮發言人瓦戈說，米利根使用一種很環保的染劑，最長可維持六個月，對人畜無害。該鎮希望，在草坪需要再補漆修整前，法拍屋有人買下入住。

The town of Perris, located in Riverside County in Southern California, a region where foreclosures run rampant, has allocated a certain amount of money to spray paint bald spots green from a $2 million fund it set aside to stabilize affected neighborhoods with hope the distressed properties will be more readily scooped up.

位於南加州河濱郡的派瑞斯，喪失抵押品贖回權的房屋有如野草叢生，該鎮提撥兩百萬美元基金來穩定受影響的社區，並從中分配一定金額在光禿禿的草地上噴漆，希望這些不良房地產能很快起死回生。

However, it begs the question, why not put in real grassSurely sod can’t be that expensive. Though the dye is environmentally safe, and won’t pose a threat to pets or people, however, the paint is only designed to last up to six months, which makes you wonder if that’ll be long enough to sell off the excess inventory.

但這仍難免令人質疑，何不鋪設真正的草皮？草皮其實沒多貴，何況，雖然染料在環境保育上很安全，也不致對人畜構成威脅，但因油漆最多只能維持半年，難免啟人疑竇，懷疑綠化的時間是否夠長，可以賣掉一大堆滯銷的法拍屋。

Home sales were up nearly 60 percent in Riverside County in April, according to real estate information provider DataQuick, but the median sales price is down more than 41 percent. Most of those sales are distressed properties, those that have been previously foreclosed on in the past 12 months.

據提供房地產資訊的業者DataQuick表示，河濱郡4月房屋銷售量增加近60%，但房屋銷售中價劇跌41%以上，大部分成交的房地產是過去12個月在市場上推出法拍的房屋。

Photo shows Insta-Green USA employee Bryan Roberts using an environmentally friendly dye to color the dead lawn of a foreclosed home to blend with the green lawns of the rest of the neighborhood on May 15 in Perris, California.

圖（法新社）為美國瞬間綠公司員工羅伯茲5月15日正使用一種有益環保的染劑，為加州派瑞斯一家法拍屋前已經死亡的草坪上色，以便和社區其他草坪一樣綠。