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Self-Help Builder Newsletter June 2013 Volume 6, Issue # 2 >
We hear you!
By Bruce Newman, RCAC
homeownership options manager
Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) has heard
your desire to build green in the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program and your
concerns over potential increased costs. We have heard 502 loan procession
delays are making it difficult to meet grant requirements and your desire to find
efficiencies to shorten build times for new homes and reduce program
administration costs. In response, RCAC recently set goals to focus on these
areas.
The first step was for RCAC to establish a baseline to
determine where we currently stand. You may have been wondering why your RCAC technical
assistance (TA) staff has been asking new questions in recent meetings. We gathered
the following baseline data for our business planning process. Here, we share
that data with you, so you can see how you compare with other grantees in the
region.
Baseline data
Green building
RCAC is working with 52 grantees, and 33 of these
grantees reported that they were meeting an energy standard, either a national standard
such as Energy Star or a state standard such as Washington’s Evergreen standard.
Of the 52 grantees who are meeting an energy standard, 14 reported meeting or
exceeding Energy Star 3 and one was meeting LEED Gold.
502 loan processing
RCAC’s 52 grantees averaged 110 days for 502 loan
processing. Some grantees reported “up to 360 days” from the submission date of
a completed 502 application to the issuance of the Certificate of Eligibility.
On the low end, two grantees reported loan processing that took 20 days.
New home construction
time
For this goal, we wanted to measure the time it took each
grantee to construct its most recent completed group build of new homes from
building permit date to Certificate of Occupancy. The average construction time
for RCAC’s grantees was 283 days. The longest time reported was 520 days and
the shortest was 150 days. Ten percent (five grantees) reported construction
times of more than 400 days and 12 percent (six grantees) reported construction
times under 200 days.
We realize many factors influence the outcomes in these
three data areas, such as funding availability, staff workloads, weather and
subcontractors. RCAC also acknowledges there are many things we can do to improve
and achieve positive results. In the coming months, your RCAC TA staff will be assessing
ways we might help you move these numbers in a positive direction. We look
forward to continuing our partnership with each of you and finding innovative
ways to serve our rural communities to the fullest extent possible.
Have you got a great way you’ve been able to excel in one
or more of these areas? We’d like to hear about it. Sharing one organizations
success with others is a key part of our technical support.