By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
No one can quite figure out why
someone in Nephi wouldn't like to have a two- or
three-bedroom house.
"They (those who could participate)
think there is a catch to it," said Jim Wilkey, council
member who is also a building contractor. "I tell them that
there is not."
The program, he said, was much like
the old FHA (Federal Housing Administration) program through
which he and his wife obtained their first home.
However, in this program, the
potential homeowners work with nine other families, who are
also building homes, and put in the sweat equity needed to
own a home that will require a much smaller house payment
each month than the usual stick built home.
Julie Anderson and Kirt
Christensen, representing the Six County Association of
Governments, discussed the mutual self-help housing program
and other housing programs administered by the
association.
"We will be happy to meet with
groups, such as school employees, to discuss and explain the
program," said Anderson.
Mutual Self-Help Housing is a
program sponsored by USDA Rural Development that makes
housing affordable through sweat equity.
This program is one way for
families who could not afford to build a home under the
regular method can build a home.
Families with income not exceeding
80 percent of the area median income are eligible for this
program. The program then subsidizes the interest rate,
keeping it low, so that qualifying families can
participate.
There is one problem, in addition
to finding enough participants to move forward, and that is
the local cost of a building lot.
"We don't want to go over $31,000,"
said Anderson.
Mark Jones, mayor and also a bank
manager, said he thought that in the area $31,000 was
low.
The $33,000 asking price each for
of a couple of lots which had been available was about right
for the area, said Jones.
Wilkey said that he had paid less
for a lot, however, by the time he paid for the sewer,
water, and other lot improvements, his lot was probably the
same as the higher asking price.
Christensen said the program did
like to keep the lots fairly close together since tools had
to be taken from one site to another.
"A group of qualified families work
together under the guidance of a construction supervisor to
build approximately 65 percent of their homes," said
Anderson.
They work 30 hours per week and
complete the homes simultaneously; no one moves in until all
of the homes in the group are completed. The labor acts as
the down-payment, and reduces the price of the home by 15
percent to 20 Percent.
The program has been being
advertised in the Times-News, said Anderson, but there do
not seem to be people who are interested.
If the money for the program, which
was allocated to this area is not used here, it will be
passed to a different area where the program has proven
successful.
"No construction knowledge is
needed to participate in this program," said
Christensen.
The Mutual Self-Help Program has
been in the state of Utah for about five years.
The Six County Association of
Governments is administering the last program to be funded
by USDA Rural Development in the state. The SCAOG's
constructed the first two Self-Help projects in Sevier and
Sanpete Counties consisting of nine homes in each
project.
Now it is the Nephi area where nine
homes can be built.
Santaquin has many homes built
under the Mutual Self-Help program. A ride through any of
the areas where those homes were built would impress anyone
looking, said Anderson.
The homes are of high-quality
construction and excellent appearance.
If a household income is within the
following limits, said Anderson, then the person will
qualify for one of the homes.
One person living on $27,600; two
people making $31,550; three people at $35,500; four people
at $39,450; five people at $42,600; six people at $45,750;
seven people at $48,900; or eight people at
452,050.
"In Ephraim, we have four teachers
participating in our program," said Anderson.
One of those teachers, said
Christensen, works at Snow College and makes $40,000 but he
has five children which means that there is a family of
seven living on that salary. Therefore, the teacher easily
qualified for the program.
There is no money paid by any of
the families until the homes are built and the families are
ready to move in, said Anderson.
Building the homes in an area also
helps local contractors who will bid on certain aspects of
the home-building project.
"We pay local sub-contractors for
doing the electrical, plumbing, road and stucco work," said
Christensen. "We frame the home, do the roof, windows and
doors."
Building the home requires 30-hours
of sweat equity on the group of homes being built each week
because all must help build the home so that all are kept at
the same level of construction.
However, said Anderson, that
30-hours can include family and friends of the
participants.
"One person, for example, can work
as little as 10-hours a week if they have two family members
or two friends help and each put in 10-hours," she
said.
She said there were currently five
house plans that participants could select from. The program
will soon add two more for a total of seven available
plans.
Each participant selects the home
of their choice. The largest is a 1,300 square-foot home
with four bedrooms and two full baths, a utility/mud room,
kitchen/dining room, garage, and unfinished
basement.
"There is no customizing the home,"
said Christensen. "The family chooses the plan and we stick
with it. We don't move or change anything."
Each home has its own liability
insurance to cover the problems which might occur, he
said.
"I am there three times a day and I
harp on safety," he said.
The home payments are less
expensive or equal to rent, said Anderson. In addition, the
program can cover closing costs if necessary.
"We are not taking business away
from a general contractor because our homeowners could not
build a home without the program," said Anderson.
Christensen said that the program
was willing to subdivide if they could find land that would
be available for the price they were willing to
pay.
Interest will never be more than
5.2 percent but the folks participating in the program have
so much equity in the home that they never have a problem.
There are also no restrictions on ownership, the home can be
sold the day after the homeowner moves in.
"We teach them skills so that
finishing the basement on their own will be no problem for
any of them," said Anderson.
"You have sold me," said Jones. "We
will keep our eyes open for property that you might use."
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