Chinle residents have chance to buy upscale homes
Navajo Times | Cindy Yurth
These new three-bedroom homes in Chinle are for sale at around $500,000.
CHINLE
Chinle residents now have the same opportunity to buy a nice single-family home as people outside the reservation – if they can afford it.
Dineh Cooperatives Inc., the nonprofit community development corporation that built the Tséyi’ Shopping Center, has completed six upscale single-family homes behind the Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility.
Vera Yazzie of DCI said the homes were originally intended for doctors and other health care professionals who wanted an upgrade from the employee housing, but since not enough of them are expressing interest, the homes are available to the general public.
“Our original idea was that having a nice home would be an incentive for doctors to want to stay in Chinle, so we could help the hospital retain staff,” she said, “but we weren’t getting a lot of inquiries.”
The three-bedroom houses, similar to ones you might see in an upper-middle-class neighborhood off the reservation, are not cheap. They range in price from $498,900 for a 2,824-square-foot home to $540,800 for a 2,931-square-foot model with an exterior stone upgrade.
But, unlike in most of the reservation, you own the land under the house, the employee explained.
She wasn’t sure how DCI had obtained the right to sell the land, and DCI CEO Jon Colvin did not return a phone call by press time.
The homes are available to Navajos and non-Natives alike. Native borrowers may take advantage of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 184 mortgage guaranty program.
Borrowers may also qualify for mortgage assistance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Federal Housing Administration.
Each house includes a master suite and two smaller bedrooms, two bathrooms, energy efficient central air conditioning and heating, a great room with built in gas fireplace, a large kitchen with island, dining area and pantry, stainless steel gas stove and dishwasher, covered front porch and patio, spacious fenced yard and a two-car garage.
The larger floor plan includes an additional “bonus room” that can be used for a den, office or dining room.
The area, at the foot of a mesa, offers great views and opportunities for hiking and other outdoor activities, and is only a little over two miles from the shopping center, bank and post office.
Information: housing@dineh.org or 928-674-3411.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow