For most homebuyers, the move to a new house is marked by the removal of a “for sale” sign and little fanfare. However, for first-time homebuyers Emmalee Mitchell and Daniel Bautista, their move was heralded by a ribbon cutting — the celebration of a home more than a year in the making.
The house, located at 925 Eighth St., is the second home built as part of the Lincoln Central Neighborhood Homebuyer Program. Its completion was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Thursday.
Mitchell and Bautista expect to close the deal today, and Mitchell said they were excited to see the completed house.
“It’s been a long process, and honestly all of the things that could have gone wrong during this process — just due to COVID — have gone wrong, so we’re just really happy and thankful that everybody was able to continue working on it and get it finished, even with all of the hardships that came along with it,” Bautista said,
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The homebuyer program is a collaborative effort between several partners, including the Southern Indiana Housing & Community Development Corp. (SIHCDC) and the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s C4 Building Trades Program Corp. (Barcon Vocational Builders, Inc.).
C4 designed and built the home, finishing work on it this past week, said SIHCDC executive director Eric Frey.
Construction began in August of 2019, but slowed down due to the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, they would have expected to finish work by the end of the school year.
“C4 did an amazing job,” Frey said. “… Through COVID, they still figured out ways to have the C4 kids get an opportunity to work on this house and complete it.”
Frey confirmed that they hope to close the deal on the house today, with the homebuyers able to move in shortly after.
“Everything’s locked in, from the financing side,” he said. “We are just waiting for the title company to give us an official time. And the appraisal has been done. … We just need to get paperwork scheduled.”
He added that a final inspection took place Dec. 16 and installation of appliances also took place this week.
Frey said that the property at 925 Eighth St. was part of the city’s Blight Elimination Program and used to be the site of an “old, vacant, dilapidated house.”
“Once that was torn down, then the property, through the city, was turned over to SIHCDC,” he said.
The SIHCDC acts as the developer for the homebuyer program, Frey said, and C4 handles construction of “quality, affordable” housing.
“The program’s designed so that the individual family is at 80% of the area median income or less,” he said. From there, there’s an application process, and the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center helps the potential buyers get their applications together so they can find out if they qualify.
Interested buyers are also required to go through homeownership counseling, which is provided by Apprisen. First Financial Bank and Union Savings Bank sponsor the classes so that they are free. Frey said that the counseling helps people learn about financial management, home maintenance and other facets of homeownership.
He added that the program helps anyone who is interested in purchasing a home, regardless of whether or not they do so through the Lincoln Central Neighborhood Homebuyer Program.
After an applicant has qualified and completed homeownership counseling, the program then helps them close the deal and buy the house at “an affordable price,” Frey said.
He added that the Heritage Fund provides grant funding for the program that helps keep these homes affordable.
“In this community — and really, I think throughout the country — housing costs are skyrocketing,” he said. “And to build a house and have a nice, quality house becomes harder and harder for individuals to afford. So this program, we hope, fills that niche.”
The program also helps the community by “removing blighted property,” helping individuals become wise homeowners and providing educational opportunities through C4, he said. The work is made possible through solid collaboration of the agencies and government officials he said.
“None of this would happen without all of these partners,” he said.
The homebuyer program was very helpful, Bautista said.
“They helped us out with whatever we needed, and they gave us contacts and resources to go through if we had any questions with anything,” he said. “They gave us multiple banks that they’re friends with to go through the mortgage and home loan.”
The homebuyer program has plans to begin construction on a third house in the future.
“We have just secured a grant, a $40,000 grant, from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to build one more house, at least a third house, on California Street,” Frey said.
C4 has confirmed that they plan to start the foundation in the spring and then be back on a regular schedule with the kids next school year.
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The Lincoln Central Neighborhood Homebuyer Program helps build homes that are both affordable and of good quality and then assist low-income individuals in purchasing these homes. It is a collaborative effort between several partners.
According to a press release from the Southern Indiana Housing & Community Development Corp., the following partners were involved in the making it possible for homebuyers to purchase 925 Eighth St.:
- SIHCDC — acted as the developer and project manager
- The City of Columbus — Provided the lot through its Blight Elimination Program
- The Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center — helped identify the homebuyers and facilitate outreach for the Homebuyer Counseling Education class
- The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s C4 Building Trades Program Corporation (Barcon Vocational Builders, Inc.) — designed and built the home
- The Heritage Fund — provided a grant to help make the home affordable
- First Financial Bank — provided sponsorship to make the counseling classes free
- Union Savings Bank — provided sponsorship to make the counseling classes free
- Apprisen — provided homeownership counseling
- United Way of Bartholomew County — provided guidance and technical assistance
- Burt’s Pest Control — donated free termite treatment
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