See How To Own A Habitat For Humanity Home

Habitat For Humanity Benefits

If you’ve been renting all of your life and are sick of dealing with your overpaid and overbearing landlord, here’s some great news: Habitat for Humanity can help you ditch your landlord and own your first home. Will it do so by giving you a free home? No, as that’s a misconception about the program. Here are its fundamental truths:

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1. While not free, Habitat for Humanity homes are very budget-friendly.

There are a ton of costs with becoming a homeowner. With Habitat for Humanity, those costs are lower than average. For starters, you can enjoy a monthly mortgage that could cost less than your rent while being cheaper than homes of similar size in the area. And closing costs so you can move into that home are usually cheaper when you take the Habitat for Humanity route. This affordability meshes with Habitat for Humanity’s primary goal to provide access to decent and affordable housing for everyone.

Not only are Habitat mortgages and closing costs cheaper than their counterparts, but the program’s homes are also less costly to maintain. This is because Habitat homes are built to be energy-efficient and cost-effective, so your utility bills and other expenses don’t spiral out of control.

2. Sweat equity serves as currency.

To own a Habitat for Humanity home, you will need to put in work or “sweat equity.” In other words, you’ll need to help construct the home.
If you cannot do that physical work, you can perform administrative duties and attend financial education classes instead. Thanks to this sweat equity requirement, you can gain a sense of community through the program. And you can also lower your down payment so moving into the home won’t break the bank.

3. Habitat for Humanity can improve you and your children’s lives.

Statistics show that children who grow up in Habitat homes are more likely to go to college than their socioeconomic counterparts. And Habitat homeowners are more likely to become financially independent.

Steps To Habitat For Humanity Homeownership

Here’s what it takes to own a Habitat home. All of these steps combined can take an average of four to 18 months to complete:

1. Pass the initial screening to show that you need affordable housing and can perform sweat equity and pay an affordable mortgage and closing costs.
2. File your application detailing your employment, income, household composition, etc.
3. Pass the background check.
4. Have an in-person interview with a member of the Habitat team.
5. Receive your approval/rejection decision.
6. Sign the Partnership Agreement if approved for the program.
7. Perform sweat equity.
8. Pay closing costs.
9. Receive the keys to your Habitat for Humanity home. In some locations, this final step is completed with a community ceremony to congratulate you as a new homeowner.