Logan group to help build low-income family houses

The Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation will choose seven low-income families to build 65 percent of their own homes, under the guidance of a construction supervisor, in a new subdivision in Nibley with the Mutual Self-help Housing Program.

Self-help housing is meant to give “financing for a house that families could not in any other way afford,” said Lynn Sagers, community development manager for the Rural Development Office in Cache Valley.

To qualify for self-help, the family’s gross monthly income cannot exceed 80 percent of the median income – not more than $37,050 for a family of four in Cache Valley.

The Rural Development Office, working under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Section 502 housing loan, will provide a subsidized loan to families in the program at an interest rate that could be as low as 1 percent.

Through the subsidy, the family pays as much of its house payment as possible and the USDA picks up the rest of the tab.

The assurance of funding revolves around the families’ contribution to the construction of the home – each family works at least 30 hours a week for about 10 months.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it; it’s really hard work,” said Kim Datwyler, executive director of NNHC. “You don’t need to have construction skills, but you do need to have commitment.”

The Mutual Self-help Housing Program has many benefits, Datwyler told the families that attended an orientation meeting on Wednesday night. The homeowners will not have a down payment, and the total price of the house will be significantly reduced.

Datwyler also said working as a team to build the homes in the neighborhood allows everyone to form bonds and get to know each other. When the families move in, Datwyler said, they will feel unified and comfortable as a neighborhood.

“The final benefit is pride of ownership. Beyond owning a home, you’ll have built the home,” Datwyler said.

Pride of ownership might be enough to convince low-income families to participate.

In Cache County, as across the country, housing costs have skyrocketed. According to the Bear River Association of Governments, housing costs increased an average of 10 percent per year between 1991 and 1996, while family wages increased an average of 4 percent per year in the same period.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established 30 percent of household income as the standard for housing affordability. Thousands of families in Cache Valley join the millions of families across the nation that use up to 50 percent of household income to pay for housing.

“[Self-help Housing} wants to make sure you don’t spend more than 29 percent of your income on housing,” Sagers said.

While the families meet with Sagers to find out if they qualify, the water and sewer lines are putting in at the neighborhood in Nibley. After the electrical lines are buried, Datwyler says construction is expected to start in early July.

Six weeks prior to that, the families will begin attending a training period that will teach them about everything from construction skills to closing costs and budget preparation.

Once construction begins, families can expect construction to last one-and-a-half to two months, Datwyler said. No family is allowed to move in until all homes are built, but “It moves fairly quickly,” she said.

The Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation is housed in the BRAG building in Logan, and has been in existence since 1996.