Need for Housing

Habitat Charlotte Region’s vision is a world where everyone has a safe, affordable place to live. The need for housing looks different for everyone. When it comes to Habitat’s Homebuyer program, we want to make sure you are ready to own your own home.

A need for housing can be illustrated by:

• Living in overcrowded or substandard housing; overcrowded is defined as more than 2 children sharing a room, 2 children of the same gender sharing a room, children sharing a room with adults, and/or multiple adults sharing a room
• Being a resident of public housing, housing assistance program, or renting a room from a friend or family member
• Paying more than 30% of your gross monthly income (pre-tax) on rent
• Does not own a home at the time of application
• Unable to qualify for a conventional mortgage; specifically your median credit score is less than 650

Ability to Pay

The ability of your family to afford your mortgage is essential to qualifying for a Habitat home. We want you to thrive and flourish in your new home and providing you with an unaffordable mortgage would be bad for your family, the community, and our organization.

For those reasons, to financially qualify for the Homebuyer program:

• Income must be stable, and applicants must have a minimum annual income of $37,500 and a maximum of 80% on HUD’s Area Median Income guidelines.
• Two years of continuous employment (temporary/contract/unemployment not accepted); you must be at your current job for one year OR at least six months if you left your previous job for better pay or benefits.
• No more than $1,200 delinquent debt at the time of application; delinquent debt is defined as anything that is reported as Past Due, Collections, Judgements, Liens, or Repossessions
• If you have up to $1,200 of delinquent debt, you will have 60 days from application review to bring that balance to $0
• No more than $15,000 in medical collections
• No more than $1,000 in outstanding debt; outstanding debt is defined as Revolving Credit, Lines of Credit, and any other Unsecured Debts or Loans. It does not include Secured Loans such as Student Loans or Auto Loans.
• Any bankruptcy must have been discharged for at least two years at the time of application.
• Must meet our minimum Debt-to-Income Requirement that allows you to afford all monthly debts with more than 12 months of payments remaining, along with an estimated mortgage payment.

We encourage all applicants to pull their FREE credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com before applying so you are aware of your debts and what may be barriers to becoming pre-approved for the program.

questions?

If you have any questions about these requirements and qualifications, please email hbapplications@habitatCLTregion.org.