City program to bring new homes

The city of Creston is working to get new homes into the hands of Creston residents with the new Creston Spec. Home Project (CSHI). Partnering with Homes for Iowa, the city plans to bring pre-built homes to city-owned empty lots for low- and middle-income families.

In order to purchase a home through this project, a buyer must have a yearly household income below $125,000 and be able to secure a mortgage covering the cost of the project total. Exact cost will depend on buyer-decided options and additions.

Participants can choose between eight floor plans and five siding colors, as well as having the option to add a basement, garage and a deck. Once the site plan has been decided and a purchase agreement has been signed, a non-refundable deposit of $4,500 must be delivered to Homes for Iowa. The construction of the house will begin once the deposit is received.

Bobby Wintermute brought the pre-application form for CSHI to the city council for approval Tuesday. Wintermute said he was trying to take the process slow to keep the program from getting confusing.

“We decided on this first one to break it down and bring in every step rather than trying to do the whole thing all in one shot because it was getting a little messy,” Wintermute said. “We can just address each of those separate things and maybe get more concise answers.”

Now that the pre-application form is approved, Homes for Iowa can come view the prospective lots. Once the lots are approved, the city will start looking for applicants to the program.

While Homes for Iowa will be looking at two city-owned lots, 400 S. Walnut St. and 318 N. Jarvis St., the city is going to start the new program with only one.

“Currently, we’re only going to be doing one. You have two just in case one doesn’t work,” Wintermute said. “I’m hoping for the South Walnut, that’s my hope for a laundry list of reasons, but if it doesn’t work, then we’ll just go to the next one.”

More information on the home-buying process can be found at homesforia.com. Features included in Homes for Iowa builds include Pella windows, soft-close drawers, an electric water heater and main floor laundry hookups.

The homes are built near the Newton Correctional Release Facility, east of Des Moines. Homes are built in partnership with the Iowa Prison Industries, a voluntary program through which offenders can earn a variety of certificates.