Home dream means sweat equity

PHOTO BY KRISTI PIHL STANWOOD/CAMANO NEWS Stacy Jacobson cuts squares for the eaves to fit into a roof joist for her home Saturday morning.

Aundrea Barker and her daughter Jessica Watchie, 16, wrap their future home with Tyvek and seal the seams with tape.

It was Saturday morning, and the pair were hard at work at The Crest, Housing Hope's self-help housing program for low-income families in the Copper Station subdivision of Stanwood.

The Tyvek will keep moisture out and heat in, said Barker, of Stanwood, one of the 10 homeowners in the first builder group.

"It's just the house's blanket," she explained.

The self-help housing program helps families afford their own home, said Ed Petersen, Housing Hope executive director.

Through the program, prospective homeowners must have a low, but stable, income and be unable to buy a home in the open market, Petersen said.

"This is the answer for them," he said.

An owner/builder must work 30 hours each week building the homes, Petersen said. They build 65 percent of their homes, which totals around 300 hours of labor, in addition to their regular jobs and family duties. Volunteers can help families reach some of their hours.

Getting in 30 hours a week is difficult, said Stacy Jacobson, of Lakewood, south of Stanwood. It means spending her whole weekend at the site, or working on the homes after her regular job. The hardest part is the time away from her kids, she said.

But despite all the hard work, the program is worth it, Jacobson said. It's a chance to own a home, and Jacobson feels she has learned the skills she'd need to remodel.

Jacobson, a single mom of two kids, has been renting for the last seven years.

"I just wanted a house for us," she said.

When finished, The Crest will have 35 homes and match the rest of Copper Station, said Jon Cortes, lead construction supervisor. The yards will be landscaped.

The first group will likely be finished in August or September, he said. The second group of six families is currently at the foundation stage.

Some of the more technical work, including the foundation, excavation, plumbing, electrical, roof, sheetrock and heating, ventilation and air condition systems is subcontracted out, Cortes said.

The families do everything else themselves, from the framing and trimwork to the landscaping, he said.

At the Crest, 19 lots are still available.

Housing teams have taken from less than a year to two years to finish all of the homes in a group, Petersen said. The amount of time depends on how effective the group has been.

Long-term affordable housing is in need in the community, he said. An estimated 10 percent of the nation's homeowners have mortgages they can't afford.

Chris Boyd, of Stanwood, said when he looked into buying a home, he discovered all he could afford was a mobile home. The Crest was a good opportunity to own an actual house.

"Not very many people can say they built their own house . and their entire neighborhood," he said.

The families each have a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The loan is tailored so payments are 30 percent of a family's income, Petersen said.

They receive the loan up front, but don't have to make payments until they are living in the home, he said. The interest rates may be market rate or as low as 1 percent, depending on the owner/builder's situation, and the loans are arranged to be paid off in 33 to 38 years.

If the homeowner's situation changes, the interest rate can be adjusted to stay at 30 percent of income, he said.

Barker first heard about Housing Hope through an ad in the newspaper. As a single parent, she said she saw it as a way to have a home and not lose it. The sweat equity and no down payment on the loan made the project appealing.

It's reassuring knowing that if she was unable to work for some reason, the loan could be reconfigured so she and her two daughters could stay in the home, she said.

"It's like an insurance policy," Barker said.

Still, the self-help housing program is a huge commitment, Barker said. Those who decide to take part have to be ready to work.

In addition, there is a wide range of personalities to work with, she said. Those people will be their neighbors once they move in.

The group meets once a week to vote on decisions, such as who to subcontract from, Barker said.

The group builds its neighborhood from ground up, said Bruce Hahn, construction supervisor of the second builder group.

It's a long and challenging process that ends with owning their own homes, Petersen said.

Since July of 1993, 24 groups totaling 193 families have finished their own homes through Housing Hope's self-help housing, Petersen said.

Housing Hope has a range of housing options, from emergency shelter and transitional living for homeless families to affordable rentals and homeownership. Wrap-around services are part of the nonprofit's overall program.

In Stanwood, the first Housing Hope project was the Lervick Family Village apartments, in 1996. In 2007, the first self-help housing, Port Susan Condominiums, with 20 town homes, located on 272nd Street NW, was finished.

Plans are in the works for Lincoln Hill Village, which will have 24 apartments.

All the families involved in the self-help housing project build all the homes within their group, Petersen said.

"No one gets to move in until all the houses are done," he said

To apply for self-help housing, or for more information, contact Housing Hope at 425- 347-6556 or visit www.housinghope. org.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 (ext. 125) or kpihl@ scnews.com.