The Tracy EDA on Wednesday set the price for the new, ready-to-show spec house on East 2nd St.
Only four members were present at this week’s meeting — enough for a quorum — and after plenty of discussion, they voted unanimously to set the price at $384,900, with Sis Beierman making the motion and Dennis Fultz seconding.
The EDA’s next step will be contacting a Realtor of its choice, and the price could change per potential negotiating with the company that will list it. It will go on the market in mid- to late March, or possibly early April.
The house isn’t 100% completed, Community Development Director Tom Dobson said, as carpet has yet to be installed in two bedrooms and on the stairway leading to the basement.
“It is virtually finished inside,” he said. “There are a few things that need to be accomplished inside. I was holding back on making any carpet choices until we’ve given the public the opportunity to see the house; that could be something that somebody can pick out. If we get into May … then we’ll probably just go ahead and do the carpet — pick out something neutral.”
There are other small items that need to be addressed, such as closet shelving, some window framing and a bit of work in the basement. Work that has to wait until spring includes grading and seeding, porch and gutter installation and exterior concrete pouring.
The EDA’s estimate does not include the value of the lot ($15,000), permitting ($5,000) and utilities hook-ups, all of which were essentially donated to the project.
The house is a project shared by the City and Tracy Area High School. Students in the school’s building trades class erected the skeleton on the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house. Dobson estimated the cost of labor from the students at $30,000, a figure Dobson said was conservative.
Dobson said the cost of the house is entirely comparable to the two United Community Action Partnership homes on Front Street that were finished last year, mostly because there are more bedrooms and bathrooms in the 2nd St. East house, and the UCAP homes don’t have a full, finished basement.
When asked what the intent of the program was, Dobson said one goal was to get the school and its students involved in a hands-on opportunity to build a house, and to get a new house in town.
“I don’t see anybody else building a spec house in Tracy,” Dobson said. “If someone wants to, they have to take the initiative to say, ‘I’d like to build a brand new house in Tracy, but I can’t build it myself, I need to find a contractor.’ A lot of people just don’t want to go through that. It’s almost impossible to build an affordable house with today’s construction costs.”
Dobson said one thing Tracy is lacking is “moveup” houses in town; he said to move up, a lot of times people will be look at Marshall or somewhere in a rural area.
