Bill
and Mary had been dreaming of owning a home ever
since they got married four years ago, but they
had never been able to save enough for a down payment.
They decided to use $575 of the $1000 they had saved
and applied for a $5000 grant to pay for the planning,
materials and labor on the home they were planning.
Approximately
one of twenty-five people who applied for the grant
would receive $5000 toward a down payment or other
construction costs. Most of the time, however, this
grant was used to leverage cooperative effort so
that several families were able to build or renovate
a house. Anyone who did not receive a grant did
receive planning services worth $575.
The planning
services were provided by Goodenow Construction,
a profit member of The Chimorel Group. This firm
reduced its fee (typically $2000 to $5000) by the
full amount of the $575 application fee. For its
fee the firm guaranteed to save Bill and Mary a
minimum of 20% over standard building costs, if
they followed Chimorel strategies.
