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Ramona expands its available housing
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 11/13/2008 |
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Kathy Flores(left) and Delmer Dooley, representatives of a Ramona nonprofit housing organization, hold a discussion Wednesday afternoon while house-movers prepare to move a two-bedroom home onto a lot.
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The workers settled a Governor's House onto the foundation built on a lot near the intersection of Main St. and Dion Ave., putting into action the first home of its kind in Ramona.
It's the first home purchased by a local, nonprofit community group so that a new owner won't have to worry about purchasing land, ongoing construction costs or hooking up utilities. After all of the remaining work is completed, the buyer will only need to unlock the door and move in.
The Governor's House was bought by the Ramona Industrial Development Corporation, a group that will own the house until there's a buyer. Local residents Delmer Dooley and Kathy Flores, representatives of the Ramona housing organization, were waiting at the site Wednesday when the two-bedroom house rolled into town from Springfield.
Dooley said a lot of hard work was needed to bring the development group's first new home to Ramona.
"We started this project about seven or eight years ago," Dooley said. "The first problem was finding a lot."
It wasn't really a problem of finding a lot in town. More specifically, the problem centered on finding a convenient lot that the owner wanted to sell.
According to Dooley, the development organization wanted to find a way to expand Ramona's small population of about 200 people. The members noted that many of the teachers at Ramona School live outside of town because they couldn't find a newer home to buy or even a home to rent.
"That turned into one of our goals -- to have more housing available," Dooley said.
Dooley said the local group copied a program used in Eden, a small community in northeastern South Dakota. Representatives traveled to Marshall County and found that Eden had installed about eight Governor's Houses through an SDHDA program for nonprofit groups. Dooley said the Eden group informed its visitors that the town had three other Governor's Houses on order.
Stipulations do exist for buying a Governor's House because the state program was created to provide homes for low-income individuals or families. Household income for individuals or couples cannot exceed $33,900, and families of three or more cannot have an income greater than $39,550.
Other requirements include:
-- For families and individuals under age 62, their net worth must total less than $90,000 with less than $70,000 in liquid assets.
-- For families and individuals at age 62 or older, their net worth must total less than $175,000 with less than $100,000 in liquid assets.
-- The owners must use the Governor's House as their primary residence.
-- The owners have to install the home within South Dakota.
The 1,008-square-foot Governor's Houses have outside dimensions of 24x42 feet and are constructed with vinyl siding and vinyl windows that offer insulated glass. Inside the houses, the kitchen and bathroom have oak cabinets, and the owner can choose to heat the house with either electricity or gas.
The two-bedroom homes are constructed by inmates at the state prison in Springfield as part of a training program.
Ramona residents worked on preparing the lot in town for the house's arrival. Dave Lebahn prepared the concrete-and-block foundation. Russ Fischer provided the expertise in preparing the plumbing connections to the water and wastewater utilities.
The Governor's Houses have a list price of $33,000 and the buyer must pay sales and excise taxes. The home buyer will need to pay for other expenses such as the construction of the foundation. The two-bedroom house was placed on a 100x140-foot lot that provides space for a garage or home expansion.
To sell the new home, the development group will have buyers contact Jan Hildring, an SDHDA sales representative. Hildring said nonprofit groups from other towns in southeastern South Dakota, including Elkton and Centerville, have purchased the homes for their communities. The groups use the two-bedroom homes to expand local housing, improve their tax base and increase the local population.
"But mostly we don't sell these houses to nonprofits that way; we mostly sell them privately," Hildring said.
The SDHDA makes exceptions to its income requirements for certain people, such as those who suffer from an illness, have a disability or need housing due to a natural disaster.
Individuals interested in the Ramona Governor's House can call Hildring at 605-270-0274 or e-mail jan@sdhda.org.
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