Self-Help Homes

On March 23, 2026 USDA-RD announced that income qualified families can now get "other affordable financing" above the USDA mortgage loan limit to get into a Mutual Self-Help Housing home. Home valuations can now also exceed the loan limit. Both these announced changes reopens the door to home ownership in areas served by Self-Help Homes. Self-Help partners with the State of Utah and others to bridge the loan gap created by recent drops in loan limits - see the announcement

Single Family Housing Section 502 Home Loan Program-Self-Help and Affordable Housing The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is issuing this notice to announce a pilot for the Single Family Housing Section 502 direct loan program (Section 502) to test alternative values of modest housing...

Come see us today in Heber City from 3:30-5:00pm!
691 S. Cottage Side Lane! 🔑🏠💛

https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/03/19/exhausted-yet-excited-heber-city-families-move-into-self-help-homes-as-program-faces-federal-challenges/ Congratulations to another Self-Help Housing group finishing 10 Heber City homes up in Wasatch County. Thank you to Cannon at the Park Record for covering the story.

Exhausted yet excited Heber City families move into Self-Help Homes as program faces federal challenges - Park Record In the Self-Help Homes program, qualifying families get into affordable, single-family homes through “sweat equity.” Essentially, they build their homes themselves with help from a construction supervisor, volunteers and fellow participants, who are divided into crews to help build each other’...

Open house next week in Heber City! 🏡✨
Come celebrate ten new homeowners and tour their beautiful new homes. We’d love to see you there!

For many families in Utah, the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program isn’t just a policy — it’s the difference between renting indefinitely and finally owning a home. For decades, it has created affordable home ownership opportunities across the country. But now, new administrative changes lowering the loan limits to unsustainable levels threaten to weaken this unique federal program — introduced without public input or congressional debate. We can’t afford to lose one of the most effective home ownership tools we have.

Special thanks to the Tippets, Marambio and Herrick families and FOX 13 News for helping us get the word out on this the program and why it matters for hard working families in our community.

Utah families build their own homes and save thousands through sweat equity program Self Help Homes is a sweat equity program that trades cost savings for hard work, allowing qualifying families to build their own homes alongside their future neighbors.

Recent updates to the Section 502 Direct Loan Program are affecting families nationwide who are planning to build through the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program.

One of our families has started a petition to raise awareness about these changes. We’re hoping to help it reach 1,000 signatures. If you’d like to learn more or add your name, you can do so here:

https://c.org/qNxpDxQ6gZ

Thank you for your support — every voice matters!

Have you seen this petition yet? Remove USDA changes blocking new loan processing

You’re invited to tour these beautiful new homes and celebrate with the families who built them! 🎉

Happy Holidays from all of us at Self-Help Homes!

Join us next week as we celebrate Group 79! They’ve completed eight beautiful new homes—just in time for Christmas! What a perfect holiday gift for these amazing families. 🎄❤️

Congratulations to Groups 77 and 82 in Hurricane, UT starting 8 homes and finishing 10 homes the last week before Thanksgiving:

Dreams take shape in Hurricane as nonprofit helps families build their own homes As Cedes and Jesse Horn drove their shovels into the rock-hard land of their Hurricane lot last week, they weren’t just breaking ground — they were breaking through the region’s

There are eight Mutual Self-Help Housing organizations across cities in Utah, in addition to Self-Help Homes, that are helping families build homes in Hyrum/Smithfield, Moab, Ephraim, Tooele, Price, Richfield, Vernal/Roosevelt. In addition to Heber, Salem, Payson and Hurricane.

Here’s one way to own a home in Utah: Break out a hammer and build it yourself Across rural Utah, hundreds have become homeowners by banding together with future neighbors to build their own homes.