BRATTLEBORO — Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) assisted more than 30 homeowners with rehab and repair projects last year, underscoring its commitment to strengthening communities and improving the health and livability of homes for people living in southeastern Vermont, according to a news release.
WWHT released the results to recognize National Home Improvement Month and encourage homeowners to reach out for help in rehabbing, repairing, and modernizing their homes.
“By helping owners rehab and repair their homes, WWHT achieves a number of community development goals, including helping owners improve their homes' energy efficiency. This results in lowering costs and improving the livability and healthfulness of their homes,” Bruce Whitney, WWHT Lending Manager, said in a news release. “It will also help stimulate the purchase of 'fixer-uppers' that can be transformed from sources of blight into community assets.”
As a member of the NeighborWorks network, a group of more than 245 community development nonprofits doing business throughout the United States, WWHT contributed to more than 7,700 owners' receiving rehab help in 2015.
Importantly, homeowners who engage WWHT and other NeighborWorks network organizations often connect with loan and grant products that could make the cost of significant rehab work more affordable than what is available from traditional lenders.
Whitney said Windham & Windsor Housing Trust is committed to helping lower-income owners realize sustainable homeownership:
“Our sustainable homeownership efforts involve helping buyers understand the mortgage process. That understanding includes: shopping for the right mortgage, including a loan product like a 203K loan that incorporates rehab work; working with a home inspector to be as aware as possible about the potential problems, and offering guidance on choosing a qualified contractor to avoid home improvement scams.”