What do you get when three ranchers, a school teacher, a real estate agent, and one community development coordinator walk into a bank? In Guernsey, Wyoming鈥攁 possible solution to the affordable housing problem that鈥檚 plaguing many parts of the nation, including the Mountain West.
There鈥檚 not a single traffic light in Guernsey, Wyoming; only stop signs and two main roads鈥擴.S. Highway 26 and Wyoming Avenue.
Doug and Chuck Frederick have lived in Guernsey their entire lives.
鈥淢y great-grandad was a soldier at old Fort Laramie, homesteaded up Flaming Canyon in 1879. We鈥檙e the fifth generation, so we鈥檝e been here a long time,鈥� said Chuck.
Doug said it鈥檚 a friendly town.
鈥淲e used to know everybody, but times are changing!鈥� he added.
One of those changes is affordable housing in this small town of about 1,100 people.
Right now it costs an average of $250,000 to buy a house in Guernsey. Bruce Heimbuck said that鈥檚 what inspired the group to take action.
鈥淲e decided going in that we weren鈥檛 going to make money,鈥� said Heimbuck. 鈥淏ut we were going to use our money to try and at leastmake a little bit of a difference.鈥�
So, over the last few years, Heimbuck along with Chuck and Doug Frederick and three of their peers have met on a regular basis in the backroom of Wyoming West Realty to tackle that problem. They call themselves Growing Guernsey, or G2.
This was their idea: the six of them would approach the bank and ask for a line of credit. Each would offer $20,000, either inland they owned, or the cash itself as collateral.
鈥淚t was definitely an interesting first discussion,鈥� said Dan Sissin, the President at First State Bank in Guernsey.
鈥淥bviously if you鈥檙e in business, you鈥檙e looking to make money,鈥� said Sissin. 鈥淏ut they're more concerned with helping clean up some areas in town and have some new housing for people.鈥�
Sissin said the bank approved a line of credit for $120,000 and G2 used it first to buy an old apartment building at auction. G2 member Bruce Heimbuck said the building was cheap because it was basically stripped down to the studs.
鈥淲e turned around and sold that at our cost to a local contractor who then completely finished it off and it now has ten apartments,鈥� said Heimbuck.
That鈥檚 ten rental apartments that are now affordable housing in the community. The group then turned their attention to building a house from scratch. Heimbuck said first they had to find the right lot to build on.
鈥淏ecause lot costs are a major factor in housing,鈥� said Heimbuck. 鈥淎nd you can鈥檛 do affordable housing if you don鈥檛 have an affordable lot.鈥�
Finding an affordable lot was one challenge. Chuck Frederick said finding one that the owner was willing to sell was another.
鈥淲e still have a lot of vacant lots, but some people are not willing to release them and sell them,鈥� said Chuck. 鈥淪ome of them are, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 going to give it to my son or daughter. We鈥檙e going to keep it in the family.鈥欌��
Eventually, success! They found a lot, hired contractors, and built their first house. It was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car garage home.
鈥淣ot a fancy home, but we sold it for about $135,000,鈥� said Heimbuck. It was just below market price.
And it was just what Mark and Heather Wilson had been looking for. The houses they had looked at in the area that fit their needs were out of their price range, but then they saw the house G2 built and they bought it.
G2 built two more houses and even fixed up a property downtown that now hosts three different businesses.
But the last house they built stayed on the market for a while and then they had trouble finding another lot to buy. Chuck Frederick said it appeared that the market was changing and fewer people were looking to buy houses. They needed something else.
鈥淩ental homes are certainly needed in the town,鈥� said Frederick. 鈥淭here鈥檚 very few places to rent.鈥�
At that point, they decided G2 had run its course. They paid back their loan and pretty much broke even. Now they hope some younger people in the community will pick up the baton. Dan Sissin at First State Bank said he鈥檚 not sure that will happen anytime soon.
鈥淭o be honest with you,鈥� said Sissin, 鈥淚 think it took a special group of people to come together that were willing to take some risk鈥�
He said he鈥檚 not holding his breath.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and 萝莉少女 in Colorado.
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