We sell homes to buyers who meet our program’s qualifications and agree to contribute sweat equity hours building their home. Therefore, each applicant must agree to partner with us in the program, which includes providing all documentation needed as well as attending homebuyer education classes and working 250 hours of sweat equity. Basic requirements to own a Habitat home are provided on our homeownership qualification page.

If you are interested in the Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program and have reviewed the requirements to see if you qualify, the next step is to sign up for the mailing list. Email notification will be sent of any upcoming housing opportunities and you’ll be given instructions on how to apply if interested. 

ome that a Habitat family has sold back to us. We repair and update the home then sell it back to another income qualified family. These can show up all over King county and because they are already built, they are typically ready to move in much sooner than new construction. These homes are sold on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Habitat serves all types of households and families. A “family” can be singles, couples, partners, families with or without children, multi-generational families, etc. Familial status, age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origins play no part in the selection process.

Sweat equity is the volunteer time participants invest in earning the right to purchase their Habitat house with an affordable mortgage. Following approval by the selection committee, the applicant must complete 250 hours of sweat equity, the majority of which is completed on the construction site. Habitat makes accommodations for any applicant who cannot work on site due to physical limitations.

The pre-approval letter is a document from a lender that specifies you have been approved for a mortgage of a certain amount. Getting a pre-approval letter is a requirement to purchase the home. Learn more information and review a list of suggested lenders.

The best way to know how much you will be pre-approved for is to go to a lender. However to give you an idea of roughly how much your household must make, each available home will have a table that will show you the income range your household would need to fall within to be approved for a mortgage.

Minimum of 1% of the purchase price is required. Some homes may require more depending on the specific home and your finances.

We build two- to four-bedroom, wood frame houses with approximately 900 to 1400 square feet. Remodeled house square footage and amenities vary. A stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and dishwasher are provided with all houses. Often Habitat houses or remodeled houses are attached, and share walls. Habitat houses can be condominiums, duplexes, multiplexes, or single dwellings. Habitat builds and sells simple, decent houses.

Habitat does not build custom houses. The location of the house is dependent upon where Habitat is building or remodeling houses.

Yes. Habitat checks the credit of applicants. Habitat will verify employment, check credit and make an assessment as to whether Habitat is an appropriate program for the applicant(s). The applicant will need to meet the credit requirements of both Habitat and the lender they choose.

Applications are first reviewed for basic eligibility. We will ask homeowner applicants to submit financial documentation with their application. Applicants are asked to meet with an WSHFC-approved lender to secure financing for an “Affordable Mortgage.” At the same time an in-office interview will be conducted by our Family Selection Committee.  Once Habitat has all of your information and a pre-approval letter from your lender, your file is evaluated by the Selection Committee. The selection process is very competitive, if you do not qualify the first time, don’t give up! If you do not qualify at any time during the application process, you will receive a letter in the mail explaining why.

Families are in the program until their house has been built or remodeled. The construction process is complex with many variables depending on funding sources, the construction schedule and building requirements. This complexity makes it difficult to predict the length of time from pre-approval to purchasing a house. Because of this completion of the house will vary. However generally new construction will take longer then resales. We will be sure to communicate estimates of construction times as best we can throughout the process.

Yes, but there are resale restrictions on all of our properties. The type of resale restriction varies so it’s important that all Habitat homeowners contact our Director Homeowner Services at (206) 855-5213 if they want to sell their Habitat home.

The two main causes for denial of financing for households has been debt-to-income ratios and credit history. This Pilot Program funding of $250,000.00 will support 5-10 households in 2022-2023 fiscal year. The purpose of this fund is to help correct credit challenges now to allow for wealth creation in a way that only Habitat’s homeownership model can address. We sell homes at cost which is historically well below appraised value. This gives Habitat room to absorb homebuyers’ prohibitive debts in the price of the home without affecting mortgage financing. To learn more about the Debt Remediation Program, Click Here