Housing needs beg innovative approach

opinions

April 6, 2017 - 12:00 AM

Breaking news: Iola contractor builds dozens of homes that are affordable for most wage earners.
That might have been a news flash in the 1960s and later when Willard Horde was building homes on the quick throughout Iola. Most had a couple of bedrooms, one bath and garage. They weren’t fancy, but they were soundly constructed — many remain occupied today — and filled a gap in Iola’s housing stock.
The Horde houses may not have been the most energy efficient, but utility bills then weren’t ferocious, sometimes in spring and fall total bills were $20 or less.
If an empty lot came up for sale, Horde snatched it up and within days his crew would be at work.
Tuesday, Larry Manes, countywide economic development group member, told Allen County commissioners: “What we need today is a Willard Horde.”
Manes explained further: “We have houses selling for $30,000,” but usually not appealing to typical everyday workers. “We have house selling for $100,000,” but they’re too expensive, even with low interest rates, for the same group of potential buyers.
Meanwhile, structures selling for $60,000, give or take, are scarce.
Manes pointed out that combined, Gates Corporation and Russell Stover Candies plants have more than 1,000 employees, many who commute from Garnett, Yates Center, Chanute, Fort Scott or even farther.
Not all, but a good many would seriously consider moving to Iola if they could find a home in a price range where they could make monthly payments and still have some discretionary income.
What to do?
Movers and shakers in Iola’s economic development community have scoured the countryside to find contractors able and willing to build those $60,000 to $70,000 homes that would be affordable for the majority of potential buyers.
Some have gone up, with incentives such as tax credits, but those often have ties that bind the purchasers to income guidelines.
As efforts continue to perk up Iola housing, here’s a thought:
Perhaps some of those marginal houses, in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, could be converted to neat bungalows with refitting costs that would leave them in the price ranges of most folks. They could be dandy starter homes for a newly married couple, nice living quarters for a single, a pair of friends or a smaller family. They also could be attractive to older folks, who want to downsize, and put their home of many years on the market.
Willard Horde built new, but with the current housing and financial environment there’s a very good chance he, or someone with the same work ethic and sense of financial adventure, could make a good go of it.
The opportunity awaits.

— Bob Johnson

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