Selection Criteria

You should be able to meet the following criteria in order to be considered for selection for a Habitat Home in Kent or Eastern Ottawa County:

Need

At least one of these conditions must be present:

Inadequate Shelter

Inadequate current shelter because of problems with heating, water, electricity, or maintenance. Physical environment problems such as inaccessibility, hazardous, or toxic materials.
Inadequate number and size of bedrooms as determined by the number of persons in the household as well as the age and sex of these household members. For example: girls and boys sharing a bedroom or adolescent children sharing a bedroom with very young children or babies would meet this criteria.
Transitional housing (emergency shelter, transitional housing program, staying with friends or relatives, etc.)

Inadequate Resources

Lack of personal resources to buy, rent, or build adequate shelter.
Inability to qualify for a VA, FHA, conventional, or government loan.

Income

All eight requirements must be met:

Fall within Kent County's income guideline, adjusted for family size and updated annually.
Record of stable employment and/or other income for one or more years (some exceptions may apply).
Enough income to pay house payment, insurance, taxes. You must also pay for utilities and all maintenance and repairs.
Ability to pay an earnest payment of $500 (this is a one time expense).
Projected housing expenses will be less than or equal to 35% of gross monthly income.
Existing long-term debt is less than or equal to 45% of gross monthly income.
Be a documented resident in the United States.
Acceptable credit history.

Note: Household income may be threatened by home ownership. For example, rent subsidies and welfare payments may cease if you own a house.

Partner with Habitat

You must be willing to do all of the following:

Acceptance of:

Sweat equity and its demands: 300-500 hours of "Sweat Equity" (volunteer labor) dependent upon members in household.
Habitat's available properties and house design criteria.
Financial responsibility of home maintenance and care.
The importance of monthly payments without default.
The expectations reviewed at the New Homebuyer Candidate Orientation.

Fulfill responsibilities:

Application requirements readily fulfilled.
Willing participant in the home interview.
Attendance and participation at informational meetings.
Attendance of the "Introduction to Homeownership" class is required.

To determine income eligibility, use the table below:

Family Size	Minimum Income	Maximum Income
1	$18,600	$21,700
2	$19,000	$24,800
3	$19,320	$27,900
4	$19,680	$31,050
5	$20,220	$33,500
6	$20,580	$36,000
7	$21,000	$38,450
8	$21,360	$40,950

The selection committee will look for past and current examples of housing need, ability to pay and willingness to participate in sweat equity etc. The committee will only select enough homeowners for the houses built the next year. Homeowners may wait from 6-12 months between selection and moving into their new home, sometimes even longer.

Home Ownership Requirements

After the required number of sweat equity hours are completed, the house is finished, and a $500 earnest payment is made, the homeowner may move into the house. At this time a mortgage will be secured.

After the sale is final, homeowners must make monthly house payments, pay their own utilities or any special assessments, and take care of maintenance and repairs. Habitat builds and sells the house; it is not the landlord and does not make repairs beyond the one-year warranty period. Failure to pay could result in foreclosure.

After the house is built and sold, Habitat remains in contact with its homeowners, at times requesting help on committees, in the office, or in building other homes.

Sweat Equity

Homeowners must work 300-500 hours (depending on family make-up) with Habitat before they buy their house. It is not easy work...but the rewards speak for themselves.

Future homeowners work with volunteers at least 30 hours every month. They are responsible for work-site clean-up, interior painting, and landscape preparation. They are also challenged to learn and use many other skills as they build their home, such as framing, roofing, siding, and trim carpentry.

Skills are not required but hard work is expected. Each week future homeowners must find out the work schedule, get to the site and report their hours to the office. If a homeowner has physical limitations, Habitat will work with them to identify tasks that they can do to earn sweat equity.

To help future homeowners learn how to take care of their new responsibilities, attendance at a series of homeowner workshops is required. Homeowners learn how to care for their home, yard, and finances. Attendance at all workshops and the completion of sweat equity is required before the sale will be finalized.