Wanted: First-time Kennewick home buyers

KENNEWICK -- The city of Kennewick has a deal for a family that wants to buy a home for the first time.

Not only is the four-bedroom, two-bath home brand new, but the price also will be only about $110,000. And city will ante up $24,000 as a down payment with a zero-interest payback rate on the city money.

The recently built 1,563-square-foot house at 1002 E. Seventh Ave. is the first in Kennewick's Infill Housing Program. The city bought the lot, its condemned home and piles of trash a little over a year ago.

After razing the old structure and removing the trash, the city hired local contractor Ashley-Bertsch to build a replacement home of about the same size, with the goal of selling it to a first-time, low-income buyer.

The buyer will have to provide at least 2 percent of the purchase price to qualify. Applicants must be Kennewick residents and U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.

The maximum annual income allowed is $34,650 for a one-person household or $44,550 for a family of four people.

The city used $185,000 from the federal Housing and Urban Development's HOME program for the project, which included buying the eyesore property for $30,000.

"All the neighbors are very happy," said Carol Evans, the city economic development specialist who oversaw the project. The infill program helps improve a neighborhood by replacing condemned property with new housing.

The new house has wall-to-wall carpeting throughout, except in the laundry room, bathrooms and kitchen.

"And it is 100 percent Energy Star efficient," said Evans. That means the windows, insulation, heating and cooling systems and hot water heater incorporate the latest energy-efficient designs and materials.

Karen Bertsch said her family's company has done more than a dozen similar projects in older neighborhoods in Pasco and Richland. This is the first for Kennewick.

"We like this kind of work," she said.

There is no garage because there wasn't one before, but the new home has a new concrete parking pad that could be converted into a covered or enclosed parking shelter, Evans said.

The improved lot also has planting beds with shrubs and freshly installed sod.

The new owner will be selected by lottery from the qualified applicants.

Darlene Mendoza, a city housing specialist, will help people determine if they qualify.

Applications can be viewed at the city Web site, www.ci.kennewick.wa.us, through a link called "Press Release" and must be received at city hall, 210 W. Sixth Ave., by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.

Interested people can reach Mendoza at 509-585-4431 or by e-mail to darlene.mendoza@ci.kennewick.wa.us.

Evans said the city is already working on its next housing infill project, a nearby home at 704 E. Seventh Ave.

It is scheduled for a total rehabilitation from the inside-out, Evans said. It, too, will be updated with the latest energy-efficient technologies and made available to another low-income qualified first-time buyer, she said.