South Arkansas Community Development's (SACD's) self-help housing plan is a program where qualified individuals and families can build new homes. This program is offered to you by a combination of government financing, the coordination of SACD, and the family's labor.
Self-Help Housing
Self-help housing is also known as a 'sweat-equity' program. Sweat-equity is equity homeowners earn by working to help build their home and the homes of others in their self-help group. Equity is the value of property beyond the amount owed on it. Normally homeowners build up equity in their homes by making a down payment and by making house payments. Self-help homeowners, however, also build up equity in their homes through the work they do during construction. The amount of sweat-equity earned is equal to the amount construction costs are reduced by using contributed rather than paid labor.
Self-help housing allows families to graduate from renter status to homeownership by offering no down payment and the interest on the loan is subsidized for qualified borrowers, which means borrowers with very low incomes may pay only around $250 a month for their house payments over a 33 year period. To qualify, household income cannot exceed certain guidelines.
