Family builds a dream home

Tulare renters prepare to move into first house.

By Valerie A. Avalos
The Fresno Bee

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TULARE -- Angela Gonzalez delicately brushed the dirt off the concrete in her garage as she gazed around at the freshly planted flowers and neatly trimmed lawn in her yard.

She beamed proudly as she toured her first home, one that she literally built herself with the help of friends and Self-Help Enterprises.

Gonzalez's is one of 11 families who will move into new homes in a few weeks.

"For us, it's a big thing. We worked real hard for this," Gonzalez said in the master bedroom of her four-bedroom home. "Our bedroom has his-and-her closets! I can't wait to get the kids in here."

The three- to four-bedroom homes took about a year to build and range in size from 1,205 to 1,350 square feet, said Tom Collishaw, vice president of Self-Help Enterprises.

The homes initially were appraised at $105,000 but are now valued at about $120,000. The buyers will pay about $90,000 for the homes and aren't required to make a down payment because of the year's worth of work they put in to build their homes.

The home buyers do about 70% of the labor for their homes and had to work 40 hours a week building. Many homes were built mainly by women, Collishaw said.

"It's very daunting, so what these folks are accomplishing is pretty remarkable. It's a huge sacrifice and commitment, but it's also testimony for how strong the desire for homeownership is," Collishaw said.

The families pour the foundation, do the framing and interior work, such as painting, setting the doors, laying tile and installing air ducts. Self-Help Enterprises provides a construction supervisor who teaches them the skills they need and coordinates subcontracting.

"I've learned a lot," Gonzalez said. "We did the electrical, the framing -- I did all the tile myself."

Gonzalez and her husband, Pete, have rented in Tulare for 10 years, scraping by and unable to save enough money to buy a house. The couple and three of their children will move into the house in two weeks.

"We struggled for this," Gonzalez said. "I still can't believe it, but we're here.

"I'm packing. I'm trying to sell my furniture so I can get some new furniture -- at least a bed, couches. ... And I tell my husband I need a new refrigerator. One that makes ice."

The houses are in southwest Tulare in the west Tulare redevelopment area off of Bardsley Avenue and south Santa Clara Street. It's an urban infill project, meaning the houses were built in established neighborhoods.

This is one of several home projects done in the past several years by Self-Help Enterprises.

"Over the last decade or so, we've built over 100 homes in Tulare with the Tulare Redevelopment Agency," said Michael Lane, Self-Help Enterprises management analyst.

The Redevelopment Agency acquired the properties and, in some cases, demolished houses. It sold the properties to Self-Help Enterprises at a low cost, Collishaw said.

The agency also provided secondary financing to some home buyers according to their needs.

The home buyers don't have to pay back the loan until they sell or pay off their first loan.

"The Redevelopment Agency plays a very important part in this," said Collishaw, noting that seven of the 11 home buyers took out second loans.

"For example, one of the families got $10,000 in a secondary loan. They needed that in order to qualify for their home."

The reporter can be reached at vavalos@fresnobee.com or (559) 622-2421.