Homeownership

program overview

Our Homeownership program provides affordable housing for low-income families in Utah County.  Our program philosophy is based on a hands-up and not a hand-out approach.

We have 3 main criteria for selection into the program:  need, willingness to partner and ability to pay.

Our homeowners are required to perform hundreds of hours of sweat equity before the completion of their home.  Sweat equity takes on many forms including educational classes surrounding homeownership, personal finance, and others along with participating in building their home and the homes of other partner families.

When their home is complete, our homeowner will be given a 30-year 0% interest mortgage that is based on the appraisal of their home and their gross income.

It generally takes us about 6 months to complete a home from start to finish depending on weather and other factors surrounding the construction of the home.  Our homes are usually between 1,500 – 2,000 sq ft. and we will consider special circumstances and specific needs of the family.

qualifications

Need for Housing
  • Living in overcrowded housing
  • Living in substandard housing that is affecting their health, safety and welfare
  • Accessibility challenges
  • Cost burdened
Willingness to Partner
  • Minimum requirement of 200 hours of sweat equity for a single-parent household
  • Minimum requirement of 350 hours for a two-parent household
  • Attend other programs, events and classes as required by HFHUC
General Information
  • Live or work for one year in Utah County.
  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or have permanent resident status.
  • Have the same source of income for at least six months (or show improvement of income)
  • No bankruptcy within the last 5 years
Ability to Pay
  • Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio must be between 30-43%
  • Required at closing: $500 down payment and closing costs (approx. $3,000)
  • You must have the ability to make a monthly mortgage payment that will be ~ 28% of your gross monthly income
  • Bankruptcy must be resolved for at least five years
  • Earn between 30%-80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Refer to the chart below and match your total family income with the total number of family members to check your income eligibility

2023 AMI Breakdown

Application Process: click on the numbered steps below for more information

  1. 1 Application Process:
  2. 2 Information Sessions
  3. 3 Required Documentation
  4. 4 Income, Credit and Background Check
  5. 5 Family Selection Committee (FSC)
  6. 6 Location and Community Information
  7. 7 Mortgage and Payment Information

Step 01

Application Process:

You must attend one of the five information sessions.  We will hand out applications at each session.  Applications will only be available at the information sessions and you must have signed our attendance log in order to receive an application.

It is critical that you take your time filling out the application and provide all the required documentation.  If any information is missing, your application will be rejected and you will receive a notice for additional information which will delay the review of your file.  You do not get any bonus points or special consideration for turning in your application early.  However, turning in an incomplete application could cause you to miss the deadline to resubmit.  Please take your time and fill out the application completely and accurately and provide all the supporting documentation that is required. This will provide you the best opportunity to qualify.

It generally takes about 4-6 weeks for the family selection committee (FSC) to review all the files.  Once all the files have been reviewed and the application window has closed, the FSC will select the top 10 candidates for the program based on our grading criteria.  They will then conduct home visits to meet the family and verify all supporting documentation.

They will then pass their recommendations on to the Board of Directors who will select the top 4 candidates for this round of applications.  There will be another application process for the remaining 4 homes.  We do NOT have a timeline yet for the next round of applications but it will most likely be late 2024 or 2025.

 

Step 02

Information Sessions

There will be 5 information sessions.  You must attend at least one to qualify and receive an application.  You must be on time as we will close the doors 15 minutes after the session starts and you will not be allowed to enter once the doors are closed.  

The information sessions will be held in the Bullock Room at the Provo Library at the following times:

  • May 9th from 6:30 – 8:30 (PM)
  • May 13th from 9:30 – 11:30 (AM)
  • May 17th from 6:30 – 8:30 (PM)
  • May 18th from 6:30 – 8:30 (PM)
  • May 20th from 9:30 – 11:30 (AM)

The Provo Library is located 550 N University Avenue in Provo.  The Bullock Room is #309 on the 3rd floor.

We kindly ask that you not bring your children out of respect for everyone else.  There is a lot of information to cover and we want everyone to learn about this amazing opportunity without being distracted by younger children carrying on.

Step 03

Required Documentation

It is imperative that you fill out the application completely and accurately and provide all supporting documentation.  If you fail to submit a complete and accurate application or fail to provide all the supporting documents to your application, your application will be rejected for non-compliance and you will receive a notification of such.  Failure to submit a complete application by the deadline will result in an automatic disqualification for consideration into our program.

Deadline:  We must receive a complete and accurate application along with all supporting documents by Wednesday May 31st at 5:00.  We will NOT accept any applications or supporting documentation after the deadline.  If your application is not complete and submitted by the deadline, you will be considered ineligible for this program at this time.  No exceptions.

The following documents are required:

  • 2 forms of Government ID and proof of citizenship or resident status
  • Copy of current lease / rental agreement
  • Pay stubs for preceding 6 months
  • Supporting documents for any additional income: alimony, child support, social security etc.
  • Bank records for previous 3 months for checking and savings accounts
  • Tax returns for previous 2 years: 2021 and 2022.

Step 04

Income, Credit and Background Check

You will need to submit pay stubs for the preceding 6 months for all applicants.  You will also have to submit all supporting documentation for any additional or supplementary income.  We will pull a credit report, verify employment and rental history and pull a background report to verify income, employment, credit and overall fit for our program.

 

Step 05

Family Selection Committee (FSC)

  • Family Selection Committee (FSC) will review all applications:  usually takes about 4-6 weeks
  • FSC will select the top 10 applicants based on our grading criteria
  • FSC will conduct in-person home visits of each of the 10 top applicants to assess their living conditions and fit for our program
  • FSC will forward their recommendations to the Board of Directors (BOD)
  • HFHUC BOD will select 4 families for this application process

Step 06

Location and Community Information

Our community is located just west of the intersection of 100 north and 100 east in Pleasant Grove.  It’s adjacent to the John Hancock Charter School.  The community consists of 4 twin homes.  The homes will be between 1,500 – 2,000 sq ft.  Each home will be 2 stories and have a 2 car garage.

You will not be able to select which home you receive.  However, you may be able to select certain features in your home such as cabinets, flooring etc.  The ability to choose your interior selections varies and depends on a lot of factors which you will learn about if you are selected for our program.

It takes us about 6 months to build a home from start to finish depending on weather and other factors affecting the construction of your home.

 

Step 07

Mortgage and Payment Information

Your mortgage payment is based on your gross income.  Your mortgage payment consists of 3 things:

  1.  Principal
  2. Homeowners Insurance Premium
  3. Taxes

Your mortgage is a 30 year interest-free mortgage so you do not have the typical interest payment factored into your payment.  It’s one of the many things that make Habitat homeownership so special.

Your mortgage payment will be about 28% of your gross monthly income.  Most payments range between $1,000 and $1,500.  These payments can and will vary from one family to the next and the total amount of your mortgage payment will be determined by your gross annual income.