What are the advantages of becoming a Habitat/Buffalo homeowner?

• Habitat sells houses at cost; it does not make any profit.
• Habitat holds the mortgage and charges NO interest on the mortgage.
• Monthly mortgage payments are between 15% and 20% of a family’s gross annual income and include property taxes and homeowners’ insurance.

How does a family qualify?

The Family Selection Committee screens all applicants. The family must be able to manage house and utility payments and still have enough money left over to live on. This means that the family’s annual income must be at least $16,500 for a renovated house and $25,000 for a newly built house. (Depending on family size, it is possible for a family to have too much income to be accepted). The family may be receiving food stamps, Medicaid, SSI, SSD, and certain other social benefits. Any legal judgments against the family must be cleared up before homeownership, and if the applicant(s) has gone through bankruptcy, at least two years must have elapsed since the discharge of the bankruptcy.

What exactly is “sweat equity”?

“Sweat equity” chiefly means labor put in at construction sites where family members age 16 or older work together with volunteers to build or renovate houses.  Habitat teaches the necessary skills, and the family’s friends and relatives can put in as many as 200 of the 500 hours required.  Family members can also earn hours by attending Habitat workshops, working at the Habitat ReStore, and by educational achievement.

How does a family get an application, and what is included in an application?

The family can send a self-addressed envelope to the Family Selection Committee, Habitat for Humanity Buffalo, 995 Kensington Avenue, Buffalo, N.Y. 14215 or can call 716-204-0740.  A complete application includes the application form, a recent credit report, copies of  two current pay stubs, and a copy of the applicant(s)’s latest federal tax return. (The family can either get a credit report themselves, or can ask Habitat to get the credit report by sending us a money order or check for $15.00, which is what it costs us.)

What happens next?

When the family mails in a complete application to the address above, two members of the Family Selection Committee will schedule a personal appointment with the family to discuss the application and answer questions.  Afterward, the Family Selection Committee will vote on whether to accept the family into the Habitat program.  Once accepted, the family will start putting in its sweat equity hours.