Pardon My Dust!

Please excuse the mess we’ve got some major reconstruction going on here!
No not on the blog, at least not yet, here at my house!
Let me tell you about all the wonderful things that have been happening to me lately which is certainly a welcome change after all the worries of this last month with my children and their health issues.

I applied for a special program about two years ago through our City where they had federal money to assist people who are considered low income to assist them in bringing their homes up to building code. As you can imagine, there were many people who applied for this money and I finally made it to the top of the list.

The way that this money works, is you are allowed up to $25,000 for home repairs that will bring your home up to present building code. It is actually a lien note that is attached to your mortgage. You must be a homeowner and live in your home. It is actually a reducing lien so if you live in your home one year after work is completed and then sell (or die) 75% of the note needs to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of your home. If you live in your home two years and sell (or die) then 50% of the note is to be repaid and at three years 25%. At the end of the fourth year, 0% is to be repaid.

The people from the City, who are responsible for overseeing this money, have you complete paperwork and then schedule a walkthrough on your home to see what all needs to be done. They take pictures of the interior and exterior of your home and measurements of the entire house and every room, even draw up a diagram of your house.
They access everything that is needed to repair your home. Then back to the office, put a pencil to the costs and decide exactly what can and can’t be done with the money allocated.

You then have another meeting with the City people to determine exactly what is to be done. They will also give you a list of alternative repairs that can be included in case there is enough money left.

Then everything goes to a bidding process with general contractors with a close date for the bids and once all are in, a contractor is selected. Once this happens you return to sign a contract with that General Contractor and the City and work must commence within 5 days of signing and the entire work has to be completed within 42 days. That means your General Contractor must be very diligent in scheduling his crews so they will coordinate together to get the work done in a timely fashion.

Work has begun here and I will take you on our journey as we complete this process.