Lee County Contractors Wanted

The Lee County Housing Services Program is looking for licensed and insured General, Building and Residential Contractors to participate in the County's current housing rehab and weatherization programs, including the NSP.  

Interested contractors are required to attend a workshop on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 OR on Wednesday, October 17th, 2012.  Please contact Jeannie Sutton at 239-533-7926 for additional information.  

 Please read this article in our August newsletter for more information. 

NSP Rehabs Built To Last

Ask any of the NSP of Lee County rehab workers, and they will tell you that each property is remodeled with the new owners at heart.   "These homes are held to a high standard," said NSP Rehab Specialist Brian Bissell. "Our goal is to provide a marketable product to the buyers that is free of unexpected maintenance issues for the first few years of homeownership."

Bissell has a 15-step process for acquiring and rehabbing homes, starting with selecting the right property. This involves close inspection of a home's foundation, roof structure, exterior, and interior walls. Once it is determined that there are no foundational, mold, or defective drywall issues, workers then determine the specific rehab needs and costs. NSP funds are used to purchase and rehab the property. All NSP homes are purchased below the appraised value.

"The difference between what we do and what a typical investor looking to  'flip' a home might do is tremendous," added Bissell. "We are not profit-driven. We want to improve each property to add life and quality to the neighborhood."

Typical NSP home remodels include:

• Repainting the interior and exterior
• New roof shingles (if needed)
• New plumbing fixtures including toilets, well equipment and water heaters
• Careful inspection of electrical systems with new fixtures installed
• Depending on age, the air conditioning (HVAC) system may be replaced to meet today's higher energy efficiency standards
• Septic systems are pumped out and inspected
• Floor coverings are in most cases replaced and durable ceramic tiles instead of carpet are used in the main living areas
• Finally, cabinets, walls, ceilings and bathrooms are rehabbed as needed.

The rehab time depends in large part on the home's condition and can take anywhere from 30 days to over 120 days.  Click here to see some of NSP of Lee County's rehabbed homes that sold to NSP buyers.

NSP of Lee County Images on Flickr

To show more of NSP of Lee County's work, we created a Flickr account featuring photographs of NSP highlights from the last two years. Click on the image below to watch a slideshow of rehabbed NSP homes that have been sold to Lee County NSP buyers. 

The images are also accessible from the Flickr link on the NSP homepage.  

Click on the image to start slide show of sold NSP homes.