SALEM, Utah — Homeownership can feel out of reach for many Utah families, but one program is changing that — one two-by-four at a time.
Self Help Homes is a sweat equity program that trades cost savings for hard work, allowing qualifying families to build their own homes alongside their future neighbors. Those who complete the program in Utah save around $70,000 on average.
Andrew and Nathalie Tippetts of Salem are among the families who have already made it through.
For them, like many others, owning a home once seemed out of reach.
"Kind of looked almost impossible," Andrew said.
The couple described searching endlessly for a home they could afford, even having a cousin move in to help cover rent.
"The house like this was pretty much unimaginable," Nathalie said.
But today, they have comfortably lived in their Salem home for about a year in a home they built themselves.
"We love it. We love the neighborhood, the community that we built with here," Nathalie said.
WATCH: Utah's CROWN program turns renters into homeowners
When neighbors ask who built their home, the answer surprises people.
"They'd say, 'Who? Like, who did them?' I'm like, 'We did. Yeah,'" Nathalie said.
Every home on their street was built the same way by the families who now live in them.
Brad Bishop, the executive director of Self Help Homes, said the organization has built nearly 700 homes across four counties in Utah.
The process begins when families close on loans through the USDA, which is a process that is used across the country for similar programs, and Bishop has used since the late 1990s when starting this program.
"Once all the families close on their loans with USDA, we'll dig all the holes, and then start putting in the foundations. And then they usually have three or four lumber drops for families to start framing," Bishop said.
The minimum requirement is 35 hours of work per week, and in a unique twist, participants don't just build their own home — they build every home on their block.
"And nobody moves in until they're all complete," Bishop added.
Even local high school classes lend a hand during the process, like a crew we ran into from the Nebo School District.
The program is designed for working Utah families.
"There are income guidelines, and each county is different. So we get a lot of families that are kind of the workforce of Utah," Bishop said.
The average income requirement is that you make at or under 80% of the median income for the county in which you are building.
Now, some might wonder: "If I have no experience, how in the world would I build my own home?”
Answer: No prior construction experience is required at all.
Lead construction supervisors Scott Tuttle and David Cox are responsible for teaching each group, and they know the program firsthand since they also learned from scratch through it.
"It really could change your life, because both me and him aren't just construction supervisors. We both built in the program," Cox said.
"Really, we'll take anybody that is willing to learn and to get into a home this way," Tuttle said.
Cox added: "I've gone from teaching somebody how to relearn how to read a tape measure."
Emma Herrick and Elizabeth Marambio are currently building their homes in the next Self Help Homes subdivision. Their families will be future neighbors, and they are building partners in the process.
Both came to the program through family connections. Herrick had a brother-in-law who completed the program, and Marambio's parents were signed up for it.
Like the Tippetts, neither family was optimistic at first.
"I mean, we were hopeful, but with what we were making, it looked like we were going to have to make some real changes," Marambio said.
Without the program, Herrick said she would have needed to take on multiple jobs.
"And not being able to have that quality time with our family and our kids," she said.
The program, they said, offered a way out of that cycle.
"We thought, 'Hey, this is the only way we're getting into a house. So let's do it," Herrick said with a chuckle.
Even though neither had any construction experience prior to this job, the homes they’ve worked on are already a sight to see.
Herrick said she learned really fast that “there is not much that can’t be repaired."
There is an important development for families interested in the program. The USDA loan process that funds Self Help Homes is currently on hold a pause that is affecting multiple groups in Utah and across the country.
WATCH: Federal loan limit cuts threaten self-help housing program in Cache County
"And this happened just about a week ago," Bishop said.
Bishop said Self Help Homes is working to reopen the loan process, including working with Utah's two senators and the three congressional representatives in the districts where they have built.
However, in the meantime, they still hope families will learn more about building with the program.
Self Help Homes is holding an open house this Thursday in Heber City for prospective participants to attend and ask questions to find out if the program is right for them. It runs from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 753 S. Cottage Side Lane.
For more information and to see if you might qualify, you can visit selfhelphomes.org/qualifications
