by Jolene Toves

Guam - The Guam Housing Corporation board of directors are looking at a new building concept that would benefit low income families wanting to own a home.

While the dream to own a home is a goal many work toward the cost of a traditional concrete house can make that dream seem a bit out of reach for many low income families. But that is something the Guam Housing Corporation would like to see change. GHC president Martin Benevente said, "We got this metal homes concept that's coming to Guam that will hopefully drive the price of owning a home down to. We were discussing with some of the contractors and they are pushing the price down as far as they can go," he said.

That price according to Benevante is about $35,000-$45,000 for a two-bedroom home. "We are going to be providing all these companies that responded providing a space a piece of property somewhere so that they could put their model homes so people can see it and actually come inside and look at it," he said.

Benevente says for a lot of people the traditional concrete homes are too expensive and these metal houses would make ideal starter homes.

"We have had metal here in Guam for a long time I own a metal building myself that's over 40 years old and just yesterday I drove down here and saw a quonset hut that was there during after the war," he said.

He adds that these metal homes will have to meet Guam standards for natural disasters and in doing so will be insurable.

Benevente says metal homes would be a great option for those who are living in sub standard conditions. Ultimately paving the way for metal homes to become an option for affordable housing.