Hundreds of people – potential home buyers and remodelers as well as the curious – crowded the lower level of the Sunshine Mall Saturday for the St. Croix Housing Expo, sponsored by the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority and Banco Popular.
Visitors to the expo were treated to 46 vendors representing the entire range of housing issues – banks and lenders with information on how to finance a home purchase and realtors to help find and buy a house. Building materials, including cement, cabinetry, granite countertops and other hardware were there for people who might not want to buy a new home, but want to make the most of the home they have.
Seminars on financing and mortgages drew dozens of listeners, and demonstrations were offered on installing locks, replacing plumbing fixtures and grouting tiles.
Even the V.I. Fire Department was on hand, with information about how to keep your home – whether new or old – from going up in smoke. And plenty of insurance forms were available to look at your options should that happen.
"We’re trying to offer the entire spectrum of the housing market," said Adrienne Williams, interim executive director of the VI Housing Finance Authority. She said the number of people showing up for the expo was exciting, giving a glimmer of hope that the economy might be ready to right itself.
Oran Bowry, regional manager of Banco Popular, one of the expo’s sponsors, said the focus of the seminars was on more than getting a mortgage. There was emphasis on financial planning before getting into the market, and a session on how to maintain a mortgage if times turn hard and a homeowner loses his or her job.
"We want to make home ownership accessible to everyone," she said.
There were also construction companies and alternative energy installers. And keeping an eye on all of them was Phillip Smith, the territory’s director of building permits.
Smith said there hasn’t been flood of applications for new construction, but the division has been hard at work making sure existing structures, many built without a permit, are now up to code and in compliance.
"Any time you significantly alter your home, whether you’re adding a bathroom or a kitchen, especially if you’re doing electricity or plumbing, you should come in and see if a permit is required, and whether your contractor is licensed for that kind of work," he said. "That’s really what we do – protect customers from unscrupulous contractors."
And in the face of rising energy costs, making a home more energy efficient just makes sense, said Don Buchanan of the V.I. Energy Office. The office has been offering programs in which home owners can purchase a solar water heater for no money down, get an instant rebate for the purchase, and pay for the system and installation through installments on their power bill. That program is still available, but those interested should hurry and get their applications in, he added.
The Virgin Islands Housing Authority was on hand taking applications for the newly constructed homes at the Louis E. Brown Villas in Estate Paradise.
