If you have $100, some renovating cash and seven years of determination this Du Quoin home could be yours

Something called the "Homestead Program" may give someone the opportunity to own their own home.

But, here's the trick. You would pay the city $100 for the house, agree to renovate it using your personal funds or borrowed funds, then you must agree to live there for seven years and it's yours!

It's a unique opportunity for somebody with a lot of determination. It's not a house you can "flip" to turn a quick profit. You and the City of Du Quoin and something called a "Designated Zone Organization" will be joined at the hip for those seven years until the conditions of the homestead program have been met.

Here's the deal and why it's a deal for Du Quoin and someone who has always wanted to tear into a "This Old House" project.

The house was once under local ownership and financed by Wells Fargo bank. Some sheet rock was installed. Some windows were replaced, etc. But the man gave up on the project and Wells Fargo Bank got stuck with the house --and the loan.

Wells Fargo wanted the house and the loan off its books, so it gifted the house and $10,000 to the City of Du Quoin for taking the house off its hands. The city could use the $10,000 to work on the house and sell it or use the money to tear it down.

Then, City Attorney Aaron Atkins and Mayor Rex Duncan came across a set of state laws embodied in something called the "Homestead Program" where, instead of condemning the house and tearing it down, Du Quoin can offer the home for only $100 to someone with a plan to renovate the house. The idea is instead of using $20,000 or $30,000 as a down payment, you use the same money to make repairs to the house. You start on the roof and work your way down.

The city places the house in the hands of the not-for-profit Du Quoin Community Development Corp. (the designated zone organization). The city hangs onto the deed until you have done what you agreed to do with the house. When the spirit of the agreement is fulfilled, the house is yours. Your investment is $100 plus the cost of the repairs.

Sorry, the city keeps the $10,000 that Wells Fargo shelled out. It you fail to honor your agreement, the city falls back on the original plan to tear the house down and sell the lot. The city council has not yet approved the program.