Project makes homeownership a reality for low-income families

Leilani Weldon isn’t a carpenter. Ramona Tacadena isn’t a roofer. Hoang Ta isn’t a painter. But the three single mothers will be among members of 72 Hawaii families helping each other build their own homes later this year with assistance from a nonprofit developer and government agencies.

A groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of infrastructure work on the self-help housing subdivision in Maili was held last week, and home construction is expected to begin in August.

The project aims to make homeownership possible for low-income residents, including some families earning less than 50 percent of the median income on Oahu, which equates to $51,500 for a family of four.

Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii, a local nonprofit developer, is leading the project. The county, state and federal governments are also pitching in with regulatory exemptions, loans and a grant.

"The Maili self-help housing project provides an example of how the public and private sectors can work together to deliver quality, affordable work-force housing in Hawaii," said Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who participated in the groundbreaking Friday.

The homes are being built on 5,000-square-foot lots carved from a vacant 9.5-acre parcel, and will be sold fee-simple to the families for between $256,000 and $276,000.

Families are saving roughly $100,000 by contributing an estimated 65 percent of the labor, working 32 hours a week. Seven teams of about 10 family members will be led by a construction supervisor. Some work such as masonry, electrical, plumbing and drywall will be done by professional subcontractors.

The sweat equity is treated as a substitute for a down payment, according to Claudia Shay, executive director of Self-Help Housing. Shay said the modest-looking homes, when completed, should appraise at about $380,000 — still inexpensive in relation to the $575,000 median price for previously owned single-family homes sold last year on Oahu.

Another key to qualifying some low-income families is a federal program providing below-market loans with flexible interest rates.

The loans are from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division and offer 33- or 38-year terms with interest rates as low as 1 percent. The rates are also tied to a borrower’s income in a way that allows rates to be reduced if income decreases.

Shay said the USDA Section 502 loans are critical for enabling about 18 families in the Maili project to afford homes on incomes below 50 percent of Oahu’s median income.

"It’s an extremely important program which Hawaii needs for affordable housing," she said.

Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank and Territorial Savings Bank will also provide mortgage financing.

Other contributions backing the project include loans from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency; the Rural Community Assistance Corp., a California-based nonprofit; and the Housing Assistance Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also provided a grant, while the county provided exemptions from some development regulations.

The phalanx of government and nonprofit assistance combined with labor from the 72 families will benefit people like Weldon, an educational assistant and a single parent of two who once considered homeownership an impossible dream.

Tacadena is another beneficiary. She’s a single parent who raised four children without child support.

So is Ta, a seamstress and a single parent who also is aiding her elderly parents with her sister, Thuan Ta.

The Maili project is among 980 affordable-housing units expected to be completed this year with assistance from the state Housing Finance and Development agency. The agency said such production will create 2,445 direct jobs and support 3,602 indirect jobs while generating income totaling $298 million.