Low-income loans rebuild

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Low-income loans rebuild

sville city program helps owners renovate homes with federal funds

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Koskey/Appeal-Democrat

July 22, 2007 - 2:44AM

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When is moved into his 1920s-style house on H Street two years

ago, he thought he would have to wait nearly seven years before he could save

enough money for repairs and upgrades.

Instead, a massive remodel – including stucco overlay, a new kitchen and a new

finish on the wooden floors – is happening, thanks to a low-income loan program

for housing rehabilitation in sville.

“It’s overly worth it,” the 43-year-old said with excitement. “I knew a lot of

work needed to be done when we moved here, but I didn’t think I would get it

done this soon or this fast.”

The program is sponsored by the city and funded through state and federal grants

from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The purpose is to give people the opportunity to maintain the visibility and

quality of their home,” said Marcus Bledsoe, assistant community development

planner with Willdan public service agencies, facilitator of the program.

“This is a last resort lender program,” Bledsoe continued. “It’s for those that

don’t qualify for a typical loan. It’s very low-interest, over a long period.”

admitted to being skeptical of the program at first, but seeing is

believing.

“It’s amazing,” said , a truck driver. “I don’t have any rush to pay it

back, there’s no pressure.”

’s loan is for $70,000, which he doesn’t have to repay for up to 30 years.

The remodel will be completed in six weeks.

Loans are given following an application process in which families must first

qualify as low-income, which means the household cannot bring in more than 80

percent of the county’s median income. The house must then be deemed in need of

repairs.

“We look at a lot of health, safety and fire codes,” Bledsoe said. “We want

people to be able to live safely and comfortably.”

So far, two houses have been remodeled with another two under way – including

’s. The first grant of $600,000 is slated to end Aug. 15. All remodeling

must take place before then.

Bledsoe said an additional five households are being considered for the next

round of remodels, if the city’s application is approved.

“Three or four houses with the $600,000 may not seem like a lot,” Bledsoe said.

“But once you get a program in place, over seven or eight years you can help 20

to 30 families; it’s great for a community and it creates a viable housing

stock.”

Work already completed has varied depending on the house. Some upgrades have

included interior and exterior paint, rewiring, new walkways and tree removal,

but the largest project was a completely new house.

“It would have cost too much to remodel,” Bledsoe said. “It was so dilapidated

and there was a black tarp on the roof, it was cheaper to replace it with a

manufactured home.”

Bledsoe said another home’s siding was rotting and is being replaced.

“Mold is also a big problem,” he said. “In many cases, it’s cheaper to

completely redo the sheet rock, so that’s what we did in many cases.”

For , remodeling with the low-interest loan adds safety as well as pride

to the house.

“We’ll get new cabinets and flooring and paint,” he said while walking through

the construction site. “Soon we won’t have to live like we’re camping anymore.

When they took down the walls, they found sconces. My wife has already gone

shopping for those.”

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STUCCO OVERLAY??? Bad move!!!