People needed for Mutual Self-Help Housing program

Six to nine would-be homeowners in Kalispell willing to help build their homes are needed for this year’s Mutual Self-Help Housing program, said Doug Rauthe, executive director of Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana.

Since 2001, the Mutual Self-Help Housing program has built 136 houses in the Flathead Valley.

Six more houses are on track to be finished in April, pushing the total to 142.

“This is a partnership with [U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development] and [U.S. Housing and Urban Development], two federal programs that get involved not to subsidize the price of the house, but to provide the mortgage for the borrower so they don’t have to have a down payment or pay closing costs,” Rauthe said.

Houses are generally built over 10 months and built to suit a household’s size and income.

Borrowers and their households must spend at least 16 hours a week helping with construction and find volunteers — often friends, extended family members and church groups — to pitch in another 20 hours a week.

Participants also are organized into building groups that help build each other’s homes.

Bulk materials purchases and volunteer labor reduce the cost of the houses.

Through the mortgage program, participants end their builds with “sweat equity” that amounts to as much as 20 percent equity in their house.

Participants get involved from the start, staking property lines, chalking out foundations and helping with the concrete pour. But home-building experience is not needed.

“In the first 142 houses we’ve done we’ve never had anyone who has not learned how to contribute,” Rauthe said. “Everyone has been successful in that.”

He said some people with no home construction experience have gone on to start their own roofing and construction businesses after participating in the Mutual Self-Help Housing program.

A grant to Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana lets it hire staff to supervise builds, manage money, draw up energy-efficient house plans and secure affordable lots.

Qualified participants must meet area income limits, have a steady income and an acceptable credit history.

As of January 2012, income limits range from $32,400 for a single person up to $37,000 for a household of two and $46,250 for a household of four. Some deductions may help people qualify.

The Self-Help Mutual Housing program has built houses in Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Somers.

“Kalispell has been our primary focus and will be for the next 18 houses,” Rauthe said.

The goal is to build those 18 houses over the next 18 months if enough participants are found.

The next six to nine houses would be built in Spring Creek Estates, north of Three Mile Drive, where other houses have been built in the past.

Rauthe encouraged people to apply over the next week to 10 days if they want to participate.

“To have a build we need six to nine families. Six at a minimum, nine preferred,” Rauthe said.

“If we fill this one, then there will be another opportunity in 10 to 12 months. But if we only have four or five participants, it jeopardizes this build and pretty much makes sure there wouldn’t be another.”

This build would start in April and run through summer and fall. “That’s a lot nicer than starting in January,” Rauthe said.

For more information about the program or to apply, contact Michelle VanSchoyck at 752-6565.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.