NEW ULM – Getting a home in New Ulm can be difficult, to say the least. High demand and low supply means that houses are in short order, especially for those with limited means.

Lashandra Taylor found that out herself when she moved here from Memphis Tennessee in 2014. Taylor has taken in two grandchildren and wants to give them a better place to live.

“I want to raise these grandkids where they got a chance,” Taylor said.

She came to New Ulm after her daughter, Angela, told her how much she liked living here.

Currently she is living in an apartment with two of her grandchildren. After two deals to buy a house primarily by rent-to-own contracts fell through on her, she does not know what else to do.

“I am not asking nobody to give us a house, I am not asking nobody to give me anything,” Taylor said. “I am asking to give me a chance. That is all. Just a chance so I can show you that we are decent.”

With the first house she was looking at the deal fell through due a clause in the lease. The clause required Taylor to take out an insurance policy. Requiring renters insurance is not unusual, but what caused Taylor to back out was the second part of the clause which required the landlord to be the beneficiary of any insurance payout.

The second house was a rent-to-own. Taylor and her partner began working on the house, making some improvements such as laying a walkway. Unfortunately, the landlord contacted Taylor, wanting to change the time limit to secure funding for the house from eight months to six.

Taylor did not feel comfortable risking her family being evicted in the middle of winter, and so backed out.

Adding greater complications, Taylor is on Social Security in her 50s, due to an injury she received while working at a munitions plant in the early 1990s.

She is not alone in her search for housing. The housing market in New Ulm and the surrounding area has a tight demand for new homes.

Because the housing supply is tight, it is not uncommon for homeowners to receive multiple bids as home-buyers compete. That can make it harder for low-income buyers, like Taylor, to find homes they can afford.

Luckily enough, New Ulm is an area where the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development Loans are available. Those loans can assist low-income families in getting a home to live in.

“That rural development loan is the bomb,” Realtor Mary Henle said. “I think a lot of people do not realize we can offer that in our community because of the size. So I think people think ‘Oh I need 20 percent down,’ no, you do not.”

Information on how to qualify for rural development loans is available at rd.usda.gov under the programs and services tab.

New Ulm is not alone in the housing crunch either. The entire state has been hit by short listings.

“The housing shortage is all over the state of Minnesota and in the upper-Midwest,” Century 21-Koeckeritz Realty owner Jeff Dittrich said. “New Ulm is not the only one.”

A so-called “silver tsunami” may be one factor behind the low supply of houses. The tsunami is an aging populace who are not moving from their family homes.

The problem, according to New Ulm Real Estate agents, stems from the lack of housing aimed at retirees.

“They want the freedom of the easy living with condos, so that someone mows their lawn and things like that,” Realtor Lisa Besemer said. “We need to meet that demand for us to get some housing freed up.”

Retirees may downsize (move to condos or single-level “patio” homes) for many reasons, often because they simply do not need the space of a larger home, nor do they want the extra work and costs that go into maintenance. When they move, that makes those larger houses available for young families.

“If they have somewhere to go, then they are going to put their homes up for sale and then we will meet some pent up demand,” said Besemer.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of housing that fits the downsizing bill in New Ulm. The Realtors at New Ulm Realty argue that if there were one or two more condo associations they could sell them easily.

Lack of accommodating housing may not be the only thing that is stopping aging citizens from downsizing.

A joint study by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, completed in August 2014, points out that downsizing after retirement is not the only choice taken by retirees.

Only 51 percent of retirees who moved ended up in smaller homes, according to the study. In fact, 30 percent moved into larger homes.

The largest factor in retirees moving to larger houses seems to be their families. Just over one half of retirees surveyed who upsized said they want room for their families to visit or live with them.

Either way, the fact remains that the New Ulm area is in need of more housing. Until that happens, Taylor is determined to find a home here.

“Everybody is looking for a decent place to be – everybody – and when they find it they want to be there,” Taylor said. “I thought I found it here. I love it here in New Ulm.”