It takes a village to raise a house

(Daily Herald) In certain areas of Utah County, it may be more affordable to build 10 houses than it is to rent just one, and it has nothing to do with bad math.

Through the Mutual Self-Help Housing program, groups of families can work together to build -- as in saw, hammer, sand and paint -- new houses for each other, and the government will help foot the bill.

The Rural Housing Development Corporation in Provo runs the program on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development. Lower-income families scrambling for reasonable housing in rural areas can apply to RHDC to join a cooperative building group, usually comprising seven to 10 families, to build each other's homes, which also come with zero down payments (except the sweat equity) and subsidized mortgages.

Original Article