A non-profit corporation in southwest Iowa has purchased a home in Red Oak, with the intention of remodeling it, and selling to a person who meets the 80-percent county median income requirements. Officials with SWIPCO (The Southwest Iowa Planning Council) says the Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund (SWIHTF), created to improve housing in southwest Iowa, purchased the home at 1200 Miller in Red Oak for the Purchase/Rehab/Resell (PRR) program.

SWIHTF bought the property September 24th from a private estate. The home was purchased with funds from the sale of previous PRR homes and a local housing trust fund grant. When the home is sold, the funds will revolve back into the revolving loan fund for the purchase of another house to rehab. The home rehabilitation will be put out to bid to local contractors this fall. The most qualified contractor with the lowest bid price will be selected for the remodeling.

1200 Miller is the fifth home purchased through the PRR program. Previous houses in the program were located in Shelby, Clarinda, Atlantic, and Stanton. SWIPCO recently completed a housing study for the city of Red Oak, which showed a need for quality affordable housing within the city, making Red Oak a high priority for a PRR house.

For more information on the purchase/rehab/resell program, or any other SWIHTF/SWIPCO program, visit www.swipco.org or contact SWIPCO Housing Director Jeremy Middents at 866-279-4720.