-by Karen Weatherspoon – Wasatch Wave
HEBER CITY – Mayor David Phillips welcomed six new families to Heber City at an Open House and Ribbon Cutting held on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at the Willow Creek Estates Subdivision. The six families gathered to celebrate the completion of their beautiful homes built through a program called Mutual Self-Help Housing.
The Mutual Self-Help Housing Program is designed for groups of families to work as a team and provide “sweat equity” to build all the homes within their group under the direction of a Construction Supervisor. Families provide 65% of the construction labor on each other’s homes. Each family volunteers a minimum of 35 hours per week to carry out construction activities such as framing, roofing, painting, and finish work. The homes are three-bedroom, two-bath and measure approximately 1400 square feet of finished space with a full-unfinished basement.
Mortgages for these homes are administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Rural Development with interest rates as low as 1% depending on income and family size.USDA-RD structures the payments so mortgages are affordable and can range from $600 to $1,100 per month.Other funding is also available through Wasatch County Housing Authority.
To become eligible for the program, an applicant must have low debt, good credit, enough income to qualify for a mortgage with USDA-Rural Development, and be willing to contribute the labor necessary for the project. The applicant must also be income qualified and earn less than 80% of the area median income (i.e. a family of four living in Wasatch County must earn less than $52,400 per year).
RHDC has purchased six more lots in the Silver Ridge Subdivision (500 E 300 S) to begin another group in Heber City. If you are interested in receiving more information about the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program, please call Rural Housing Development Corporation at (801) 375-2205 and ask for Karen. Information can also be obtained on our website at: www.rhdchome.org
