A Miami investment firm says it’s spending $150 million to buy 1,200 homes in foreclosure across South Florida.

Roughly 60 percent of the homes will be in Miami-Dade County and the remainder will be split across Broward and Palm Beach counties, said Inaki Negrete, chief executive of Vulcan Investment Partners.

Vulcan says it’s paying $75,000 for homes once valued at $200,000 or more and plans to rent them for $1,500 a month for several years before eventually selling.

The business plan capitalizes on the booming rental market and also helps South Floridians hurt by the housing collapse, said Negrete, one of a handful of Mexican businessmen who started Vulcan.

“People have problems getting a new mortgage,” he said. “Now they can take some time to fix their credit scores.”

Other investment firms are using similar strategies. The Blackstone Group in New York is buying an undisclosed number of homes in at least 10 markets across the country. Blackstone is buying in the Tampa area, but not South Florida, spokesman Peter Rose said.