Loan program helps out with home repairs
Breanna Hurst bought her first home on her own in 2006, but it was slightly less than a dream house.
Hurst purchased her home at 138 Wall St. for about $26,000 and considered it “a mess” because it needed a lot of work.
Now more than a year later, it’s a little closer to her dream house thanks to the city Community Development Department’s homeowner rehabilitation loan program.
`I love it,” said Hurst, 20. “I got a brand-new house out of it basically.”
Workers from Harrison Builders have been working to make it free of lead-based paint, revamping her bathroom with a new tub and adding new exterior siding. They are also doing smaller jobs, such as installing new doors, windows and handrails to bring the house up to city codes, said Penny Harrison, co-owner of the company.
“It does so much to bring up the neighborhoods,” Harrison said.
As Gail El-Khalidi, lead abatement supervisor for Harrison Builders, painted one of the new doors in Hurst’s home, she said the program gives homeowners “a place they can have for a long time that they can feel good about.”
With Jackson’s older housing stock, having the owner rehabilitation program helps people who could not afford improvements, Community Development Director Carol Konieczki said.
“It is really to update homes,” Konieczki said. “They have to be pretty current on their payments. They get the opportunity to have their home improved and it improves the neighborhood. It gives them the opportunity to take advantage of pretty cheap payments.”
The city has about $800,000 in uncommitted funds for the program, and Konieczki is encouraging people to contact the department to see if they are eligible for low-interest loans.
With the sagging economy and many of the city’s homes in foreclosure, officials are looking for homeowners to take advantage of the program, she said.
During the city’s last fiscal year, from July 1 to June 30, officials spent about $500,000 to help fix 35 homes.
Hurst, the mother of Kyler McLemore, 1, is working two jobs and taking online classes through Kaplan University for criminal justice.
It’s hard to maintain a home at a young age, she said, but she works hard to make the payments on her own.
She pondered whether to buy a home or a new car, but said she knew which one would be the better investment.
“It is just a great way to buy a house for a low price,” she said of the program. “It is better than renting.”
