Own a Home

The Three Criteria for Partnership

GDM Habitat partners with working families to help them purchase new construction and previously-owned homes. Habitat families are considered for partnership based on three criteria:

Need:
Applicants must currently live in a residence that is structurally unsafe, unhealthy, or overcrowded. Applicants may be spending an excessive proportion of their income on rent, or they may be currently living in subsidized housing, or with friends or extended family. Only one of these examples is needed to satisfy the Need for Housing criteria.

Ability to pay:
Applicants’ annual income must be between 30-60% of Polk County’s median income for their family size, and they must have two years of stable income history. Their debt-to-income ratio, including the estimated monthly mortgage payment, should be less than 40%, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment cannot be more than 30% of an applicants’ income.

Willingness to partner:
Applicants must be willing to complete 300-400 hours of sweat equity as well as the Blueprint to Homeownership Education series. They are required to meet with their Family Services Contact while they work on financial goals to demonstrate that they are fiscally responsible and ready for homeownership. Once they have complied and earned 200 hours of sweat equity, they are placed on a list of eligible Partner Families that are ready for a property offer from GDM Habitat.

Sweat Equity and the ‘Blueprint to Homeownership’ Course

Sweat Equity: Partner Families are required to complete a minimum of 300 hours of sweat equity to purchase a previously-owned home, and 400 hours to purchase a new construction home. Sweat equity opportunities are available in the office, the ReStore, at special events, through approved civic engagement, and most often working on the construction of Habitat houses. Once Partner Families select a property, they must work on their house weekly.

Blueprint to Homeownership: Partner Families earn 50 sweat equity hours when they complete the following three modules of classes.

Finances: Including courses on Banking Services and Processes, Credit, Savings, Budgeting and Identity Theft, Scams, and Predatory Lending.
Life as a Homeowner: Including courses on Homeowners Insurance, Closing Documents and Being a Good Neighbor.
Protecting Your Investment/Home Maintenance: Includes the courses Outside the Home, Inside the Home, Plumbing, Electrical, and Heating/Cooling Systems.

Homeownership

At closing, homebuyer families purchase their home for the value of the materials and land, with no charge for volunteer labor and no allowance for profit. Financing is provided by GDM Habitat through a 20-year, NO-INTEREST mortgage.