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Self-Help Builder News June 2012 Volume 5, Issue #2 >
Montana marketing success
By Nancy Jacobsen, RCAC rural development specialist
Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana (CAPNM) has been a successful Rural Development mutual self-help grantee since 2001. CAPNM has built 136 homes in Flathead Valley and has six more homes currently under construction. All told, CAPNM has provided homeownership to 142 deserving families. But the economic slowdown and housing crisis has created huge challenges. The organization faced closing its mutual self-help housing program because it could not qualify its next group of families and help them begin construction. In response, RCAC and a dedicated group of CAPNM staff developed a new approach to market the mutual self-help program in Montana.
Montana’s unemployment rate spiked at 13 percent and the state has experienced population decreases due to large job losses in construction and the lumber industry. Finding qualified applicants that were willing to jump into homeownership was becoming increasingly difficult. CAPNM was looking for six families for its next build, and as Doug Rauthe, executive director explained, “If we fill this one, then there will be another opportunity in 10 to 12 months. But if we have four or five participants, it jeopardizes this build and pretty much ensures there won’t be another.”
The grantee contacted RCAC to help develop a new marketing plan to find the next group. Creative marketing approaches are key in the current housing market to attract the program participants.
As I reviewed the materials other staff and grantees in RCAC’s service area were using, and realized that I needed to look at the current market situation to determine what was selling in a down market full of cautious buyers. RCAC determined that 42 percent of the sales in the last year were REO or bank owned properties. CAPNM was competing against very discounted repossessed homes. These homes aren’t always the best deal for first time homebuyers who may not be experienced do-it-yourselfers and may not be financially capable of taking on a home that could have unknown repairs and expenses. Through the self-help program, participants learn the skills to make repairs; and the program offers families payments that are affordable and suited to their income through USDA Rural Development financing.
RCAC and CAPNM now include photographs of new, energy efficient self-help homes and testimonials from the current building group in the new marketing materials.
RCAC staff also interviewed Carol Lechner, a longtime valley resident and Rural Development employee who was instrumental in starting the self-help program in 1991. Lechner’s knowledge about large employer groups, other affordable home builders in town, and what the homes in CAPNM’s price range were offering was invaluable. She provided information on how CAPNM’s self-help homes compared to other homes for sale in the valley.
RCAC and CAPNM developed an “elevator speech” to describe the self-help program in a concise and compelling way. CAPNM’s Kirsten Holland took the group’s ideas and created marketing materials, including new fliers targeted to specific locations, such as employer’s lunch rooms, bulletin boards and even notices on bathroom stalls in public places.
CAPNM developed a press release that employers could use in employee newsletters and the local newspaper could publish. CAPNM staff revamped and updated the marketing materials to include a map of the current build’s subdivision so interested parties could see the area and the finished homes. Glacier Bank, a long-time supporter, also prepared and ran the radio public service announcements.
The marketing team continues to hold meetings. CAPNM’s Michelle VanSchoyck is the first contact with potential applicants. She provides program information, prescreens potential applicants, packages loans and provides credit counseling. She continues to work with the families once they become a part of the CAPNM building team and provides support through the build process. VanSchoyck suggested using social media, such as Facebook and garage sale sites (which are big in the valley), as marketing tools; and while all the marketing efforts have brought families to CAPNM, these have been the most successful tools yet.
“I’m pleased to be successful in reaching our target audience,” VanSchoyk said. “I appreciate the hard work and dedication Nancy Jacobsen of RCAC gave and continues to give our agency to help us reach our goals and support our program.”
The team’s hard work and dedication has resulted in more than 80 inquiries, 10 families in credit counseling and more calls coming in to inquire about the program. The first building group of seven to 10 is on its way to closing loans within the next few weeks, and the families are starting preconstruction meetings in early June.
VanSchoyck is excited about the volume of phone calls, inquires, applications and the 10 new counseling clients. The team will continue to use an application tracking sheet, which includes contact information, and most importantly, how the inquirer heard about the program. The team’s marketing efforts will soon make Rural Development’s mutual self-help program and CAPNM become a household name in the Flathead Valley of Montana.