LOGAN, Utah — A program that helps families in Cache County buy their own home is making some big changes, which leaves many families in limbo.
Through the Logan-based "Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation," low-income families in Cache County build their homes in the "mutual self-help housing" program, and can afford a dream they might not have been able to otherwise.
The program is funded for families through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 502 loan for rural communities, with lower interest rates. But the department changed the maximum loan limit and home value allowed from $595,000 to $324,700.
“In this area, you can’t even build a townhome that won’t appraise over 324,000,” said Josh Runhaar, the executive director of Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation. "So it effectively eliminates all housing products that are reasonable."
Runhaar said the change was announced two weeks ago without letting organizations know beforehand, and they were blindsided.
He said the loan eliminates the down payment and helps reduce the monthly payment for families.
"They have a sliding scale that they will actually subsidize the interest rate for lower-income families, and that interest rate goes all the way down to 1 percent. Now, the family has to eventually pay back all that interest,” Runhaar said.
Through this program, families build their own home. They put in about 35 hours a week building their home alongside their neighbors, under professional supervision and with guidelines to follow.
"They’re able to do finish-work themselves, they’re able to frame the home themselves, and so those costs are basically what we call 'sweat equity' for that family that builds their home,” Runhaar explained. “They're walking away with tens of thousands of dollars in sweat equity."
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Collin Heaps and his wife, Kennadi, have two kids and a third on the way. They are a couple of months out from being able to move into their home in Hyrum.
"For us, this was really the only option and only way forward for us to have a home and a yard and something our family could grow in together,” said Collin Heaps.
Bryson and Fiorella Balls applied to be in the next batch of builders and owners.
"To be able to have something that we can build, and get, and then pass on to our kids,” Bryson said.
But now, they might not get the chance to build their home through this program, because these homes are all valued at about $485,000. They said it's hard for them to save up for a typical down payment and pay the mortgage.
“My wife doesn’t work, she stays home with the kids, and so, we only have one income, and so qualifying for a loan is really difficult,” Bryson said.
They spent two years living with Bryson’s parents to save on rent, and working on their finances to be eligible to own a home.
"It’s frustrating because lots of people have been able to do it, and then those changes, the rule changes, just made it all of a sudden that we weren’t able to. It’s like, why now, why us?" Bryson said.
They all hope something changes so people can benefit from attainable home ownership.
"This is the greatest blessing for our family,” Kennadi Heaps said. “We wouldn’t have been in a home as soon as this. It probably would have been renting for years and years like we were, and so it makes me sad to know that this might not be a possible opportunity for other people."
