I’ve tried searching for this on my own, but now I turn to to the Teeming Millions for help.
Background: My mom was widowed 5 years ago. She sold her house in Ft. Worth and moved to the small town I live in (in New Mexico) 6 months ago. Due to the strange housing market between here and there, she wasn’t able to buy a very nice place here. In fact, she bought a house that she can’t live in. It had been vacant for 2 years before she bought it. It needs new plumbing, duct work, insulation, some repairs on the floors, etc. A *total *gut job. She’s living in her conversion van in the back yard while she tries to fix the house. It really worries me when it’s 10 degrees outside.
The problem is that she has a very fixed income. She’s living on $400 a month until her retirement starts in 3 years. There’s not much to work with there.
I know there are grants and stuff out there to help people fix their houses, but I can’t find them. I don’t even know where to look. She’s 57, so she’s not quite elderly but might be considered a Senior for government purposes. Does anyone know where to find grants or other funding? Her house is a double-wide mobile home (modular? prefab? What’s the term now?) with a addition that was put on at some point. Any funding for any part of home improvement would be helpful. She’s looked into getting a home equity loan but they won’t even talk to her until she gets the water turned on.
Another idea would be one of those tv shows that come fix your house, like Extreme Home Makeover or something. I know there are quite a few out there, but I don’t know how to find them either. Any ideas on that front? She’s a very nice person who’s done a lot for other people and for me. My mom deserves so much better than to be living in a van at her age.
Either I have a slow connection or the site is having problems and I can’t search it at the moment, but any grants or very low interest loans would probably be in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. (This is basically what that guy in the “money suit” repackages and sales as “free money”.) I’ll search when connectivity improves.
No, my husband, baby, and I live in a 3 bedroom house. We’ve offered and offered to clean out the junk room and let her stay. But she keeps refusing. Her conversion van has a little bathroom, stove, microwave and a little fold out bed. She also has two dogs that are very attached to her. There really isn’t enough room in the house for the dogs too, and she wants to stay with them (which I totally understand). She keeps saying that she’s fine there, that she doesn’t want to impose.
She’s very proud of that van. She saved up for years to buy it. She had always planned on driving around, seeing the country with my dad after they retired. I keep telling her that I’ll do whatever she needs me to do if she wants to stay here. Every time I tell her how worried I am about the cold, she goes on for a while about her electric blanket and the hay bales she’s packed around the outside of the van for insulation. She’s so proud of what she’s done for herself.
Can you get a feeling for what she really wants and what she’ll accept from you? Is it possible that she wouldn’t accept a swarm of workers “fixing up” her home, even if you could locate them? Have you asked her what she really and truly would like to happen with the house and with her overall living situation?
You might want to check with the county she lives in and with the state. There are often programs that help with finances to fix up houses, and it sounds like your mom would not exceed their income guidelines. The county social services office would be the first place to check. You can probably Google up a website for them.
It sounds like your mom is kind of an independent cuss–the best kind of mom IMO–so while your concern for her is understandable and commendable, you probably don’t need to worry about her much unless things really get out of hand. Just let her know that you’re there if she needs anything and then leave it up to her.
Since your mom isn’t technically a senior citizen, Habitat might be the best way to go. I’ve no idea what their waiting list is like, but they do good work and it’s a 0% loan for materials.
Habitat for Humanity application for New Mexico and you may also want to find out the details of House Bill 267 in NM [$2 million sought for home renovations for the disabled](House Bill 267: Emergency Repair Fund Appropriation $2 million (Gonzales) ) )
Neat story. You could try Home Makeover it is an Extreme long shot but you touched me with your story. I bet they might send links and suggestions with decline letters
What’s the land worth, without the house? Could she sell the land? Assuming she’d have someplace to park her van, she could invest the proceeds and use it for a down payment on something livable when her retirement kicks in.
If that’s not feasible, is there a community college or trade school nearby that has a carpenter-plumbing-electrician program? They might be willing to work on her house as part of their training.
That’s a good idea – I think you have to be 62, so she couldn’t get one now, but she could apply later. She’d have her retirement money plus the mortgage money. It’s worth checking into.
I really want to thank everyone for their ideas and info. We’ve now got some really great leads and can get started getting some help.
Sampiro, those are wonderful links. Thank you!!
Sprokets, you’ve got a good point. When she first got the house in the summer, she was all gung-ho about doing it all herself. As she’s been there and reality has set in, she’s much more open to any way to get her into the house faster.
Is she still planning on traveling even without your Dad? Because it seems to me that the obvious way to get money to fix the house is to move in with you temporarily and sell the van.