11 low-income families receiving keys after building homes with their own hands
Families built their own homes under Peoples’ Self-Help Ownership Program
– Eleven families who personally picked up hammer and nails with the goal of building their dream homes over a year ago will receive the keys to their freshly completed houses from Peoples’ Self-Help Housing (PSHH) at a Feb. 24 ceremony.
The families built the homes under the supervision of Peoples’ Self-Help Housing‘s (PSHH) Home Ownership Program and will celebrate the major milestone alongside PSHH President & CEO John Fowler, Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley and other guests at noon on Friday, Feb. 24 in the new neighborhood located at 6940 Atascadero Ave, Atascadero. The key presentation will be followed by a meet-and-greet with the new homeowners and tours of the homes.
As part of PSHH’s owner-builder program, these low-income families qualified for this development and learned the necessary financial and construction skills to achieve this American dream. The three- and four-bedroom, single-story homes range from 1,510 to 1,570 square feet and feature two baths and two-car garages. The homes are outfitted with energy-efficient components and exceed current energy efficiency requirements by more than 15 percent.
Over the past year, the self-help builder families worked together to perform 70-percent of the construction labor to complete the 11 houses. This included forming the foundations, framing, roofing, siding, interior finish and landscaping. Contractors performed some of the specialty work, including plumbing, heating, air conditioning, electrical, drywall and stucco.
The owner-builder labor (“sweat equity”) reduced the cost of the homes and eliminated the requirement for a down payment. USDA provided the construction and mortgage loans.
