Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.

 

Homeowner Qualifications

In order to qualify for a Habitat home, you must be a legal, permanent resident of the United States and you must meet these four basic criteria:

  1. have a need for a Habitat home
  2. have the ability to pay the mortgage
  3. have the willingness to partner with our organization
  4. have lived and worked in the Metro Atlanta Area for at least one year prior to applying

Your need for a Habitat home can be based on a number of factors such as the percentage of your income you currently spend on housing, the current physical condition of your residence, or the number of people living in your home compared to the number of bedrooms.

Your ability to pay the mortgage on the home is determined by your yearly household income. You must have maintained continuous income for at least one year, and you must be between 25% and 60% of the median income for our area. Please reference the chart below to determine if you fit into our income guidelines:

HUD Guidelines

Family Size 25% Median 60% Median
1 $11,625 $27,900
2 $13,275 $31,900
3 $14,925 $35,900
4 $16,575 $39,800
5 $17,925 $43,000
6 $19,250 $46,200
7 $20,575 $49,400
8 $21,900 $52,600

 

Your willingness to partner with our organization means you agree to complete required volunteer hours (called ‘sweat equity’) with our organization. You and your family and friends must complete a total of 200-300 sweat equity hours. Each person on the mortgage must complete 50 hours working on his/her own home. You are also required to attend 10 education classes on topics related to homeownership.

If you meet these basic criteria and would like to apply for a Habitat home, the first step is to attend an application meeting. You must bring photo identification to the meeting in order to receive an application. If you submit your application by the deadline, you will go through further screening before being approved for a home. Not all qualified applicants will be approved for a home. If you meet all of our criteria but are not approved, we encourage you to try again. For times and locations of upcoming application meetings, please view our Calendar of Events.