The book known as the Holy Bible contains a number of curious, and sometimes confounding, stories. For example, this one from the Book of Luke.
A ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’”
And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” When Jesus heard it, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich.
Jesus, looking at him, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God…”
As we know, each of the four Gospels offers a slightly different version of Jesus’ ministry… but I find it interesting that this particular advice, to a rich ruler looking for eternal life, appears in three of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Two thousand years ago, religious teachers already understood how hard it was to enter the kingdom of heaven, if you were rich. But according to the Gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew, it can be done. There is, however, a cost involved.
I concluded Part One of this editorial series, yesterday, with a question. Does a community like Pagosa Springs need to rely on state and federal grants, in order to address our housing crisis? Do we not have the financial and intellectual means, right here in our town, to provide safe, secure shelter to working families?
Can our leaders show the way?
Can the wealthier members of community — Christian and non-Christian — step up to the plate?
Disclosure: I currently serve on the nonprofit Pagosa Housing Partners board of directors — but this editorial reflects only my personal opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of the Pagosa Housing Partners board as a whole.
I shared a link, in Part One, to a Request For Qualifications — an RFQ — published by the nonprofit Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation, the PSCDC. The corporation is seeking an ambitious development company willing to build ten homes during 2024, on donated parcels located in two subdivisions at the west end of town: Pagosa Trails and Chris Mountain II. These two subdivisions are within the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association (PLPOA) and were platted in the 1970s, but the Chris Mountain subdivision in particular has seen limited development due to challenging soils (read: solid rock) and a lack of utilities. The challenges led certain owners to walk away from their properties, leaving behind unpaid taxes and liens.
When Archuleta County put 35 tax lien properties up for auction last summer — hoping to recoup some of the back taxes owned, and get the parcels back onto the property tax rolls — only one of the properties received an offer that exceeded the minimum bid.
The County then donated the parcels to PSCDC and Habitat for Humanity of Archuleta County.
Habitat plans to install modular single-family homes on their parcels, using resources available locally, regionally, and through their international organization — an average of three homes per year. But in order to meet that ambitious schedule, Habitat is depending on Alburquerque-based Karsten Homes to provide factory-built modulars. Habitat is also benefiting from donated labor and in-kind donations from local construction companies and sponsors.
The PSCDC, meanwhile, is hoping to have 10 ‘unique’ stick-built homes completed during the coming year. By Ninja Warrior builders, perhaps?
PSCDC recently published a Request for Qualifications, hoping to attract a private developer. You can download the 59-page RFQ here.
The offer from PSCDC includes free land, soil test data, help with bank financing, a promise to pre-sell the homes to qualified working families, reduced real estate commissions, and help getting utilities in place.
To help fulfill these promises, the PSCDC hopes to win grants available through the state of Colorado.
Here again is the map included in the RFQ, showing where the homes will be built:
From the RFQ:
This RFQ is intended to create a competitive bidding process for developers. To ensure designs are unique, correctly priced, and can be replicated in locations throughout the region, PSCDC will award an initial $5,000 design stipend to up to two selected developers based on the initial letter of interest submittal procedure described below.
PSCDC reserves the right to allow additional finalists in this process at our sole discretion; however, only two design stipends will be awarded. All developer designs are required to meet PLPOA standards, which are included as an attachment to this RFQ.
The two developer finalists will be granted design stipends for floor plans and elevations for at least two different home designs, regardless the final selection. Developers will be required to provide hard bids or guaranteed maximum pricing for all vertical construction costs, soft costs, physical utility connections, and general requirements on their designs. If selected as a finalist, the RFQ submittals must include a guaranteed maximum price to ensure the selected developer will deliver final housing at price points that are affordable for our community workforce. Only single-family home designs will be considered.
We know that, according to at least one local realtor, the median price home in PLPOA has tripled in price since 2011, and doubled since the previous peak just prior to the Great Recession.
There are several factors involved in that huge price increase. The primary factor is probably scarcity. We are not building enough homes. When demand exceeds supply in the American housing market, sellers of real estate typically try to get the highest price possible for their home, and that tendency is encouraged, to some degree, by the real estate profession.
I wonder what Jesus would have said about that?
“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ “
And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” When Jesus heard it, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell your house at a reasonable price, to a working family in your community, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
But when he heard this he became sad, for he was was sure he could get at least $600,000 for the house he bought in 1995 for $120,000.
Jesus, looking at him, said, “How hard it is for those who sell over-priced real estate to enter the kingdom of God…”