The Greater Sequoyah County Chapter of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association received its charter Tuesday at the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce.

The members celebrated at a luncheon and discussed ways to invigorate the county’s home-building business.

Rich Looper, chapter president, said he is optimistic the home-building business will once again thrive in the county, and he is starting on the construction of a medium-cost homes addition on old Highway 17 on Sallisaw’s north side. Looper said the addition would have homes ranging from 1,100 or 1,200 square feet to 1,800 square feet in size, would have two or three bedrooms, two-car garages and would be 80 percent brick. The new addition is called Woodland Heights.

Looper urged members to “…keep the ideas coming and have a positive attitude” to overcome the recession.

He also encouraged others to join the non-profit organization, which includes contractors, builders, realtors, and others involved in the home-building industry.

“I love building new homes and I love people moving into new homes,” Looper said.

Max Nimmo of Prairie Sky Investments LLC, south of Interstate 40 and west of U.S. Highway 59 in Sallisaw, said he is starting three new houses in the next few weeks, and is getting numerous calls about new homes.

Dale Wood of Armstrong Bank said foreclosures in the area are just beginning, and added that the county often lags behind the rest of the country.

“But financing is still out there,” Wood told the homebuilders and realtors, “and the secondary market is improving some.”

He predicted a few more slow months and said he expects home sales to begin to pick up next year.

Looper said homebuilders should let the public know that paying a mortgage is as easy as paying rent, low interest rates make this a good time to buy a home, and “if the interest rates stay down…we will get through this.”

Mike Means, Oklahoma State Home builders Association executive vice president, told the builders and realtors, “It is good for homebuilders to organize…to share ideas and problems because through knowledge comes power.”

He said U.S. government’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers may be extended beyond the end of the year.

Means said he works with the state legislature on statues in the state concerning home building, and the national association works with the legislature in Washington, D.C. He said a new bill is proposing that houses must meet energy standards or builders-owners will be fined. The national association is working against that bill, he said.

He warned that some cities and counties, which “are strapped for cash,” have begun implementing an impact fee on new utilities such as sewer systems. But the fee is often used to pay for required improvements in other areas than those in which the new homes are located.

County homebuilders are taking the right step in organizing their association, he said.

“You are making a statement,“ Means said. “You have an optimistic outlook. You have stepped up and said ‘We believe in what we do.’”

Means then presented the organization with its charter plaque.

“We did it!” Looper said at the end of the meeting.

Founding members of the association are Prairie Sky Investments LLC; Chad Williams Construction/Fawn Hollow Development LLC: Fortnight Construction; Looper Quality Homes; Gipson Construction LLC; Professional Pest Control Co.; Century 21 Properties Realty; E.H. Masonry; Wright’s Electric Heating and Air Inc.; and TenkillerProperty.com.

For more information about the association contact Looper at (918) 776-3848 or Nimmo at (918) 208-3085.