Partner Families

Greater Manchester Habitat for Humanity (GMHFH) builds modest homes for hardworking low-income families. To become a Habitat homeowner, a family must be in need of affordable housing, able to make monthly mortgage, tax and insurance payments, and anxious to work as a partner with Habitat.

Our Partner Families have a wide range of backgrounds and circumstances. The process of becoming a GMHFH homeowner begins by attending a homeowner orientation meeting. These sessions are held on an as needed basis.

We use the word Partner to focus attention on the expectation of involvement for the selected family. A family is expected to contribute many hours working side by side with Habitat volunteers in construction of their home. Often a family will contribute to fundraising efforts of the organization.

Becoming a Partner Family means meeting certain criteria for need, income and willingness. It means attending training sessions, participating in construction and developing homeownership and good neighbor skills.

Criteria

The Habitat program is designed for low-income families who are committed to building a better place to raise their families. Becoming a Habitat homeowner is not a solution for families facing a housing crisis that involves finding a new place to live right away. (Anyone in this situation is urged to contact their local municipality or dial 2-1-1 for a referral.)

Habitat homeowners must meet 3 criteria:

1. Need for Housing

• Simply having the desire for home ownership.

• Living in overcrowded housing

• Living in substandard housing (housing that needs repairs or is unsafe)

• Currently paying rent that is too high

• Being a resident of public housing (may or may not be a factor in qualifying)

• Unable to obtain a regular bank mortgage or qualify for other available housing programs

2. Ability to Pay

• Income: Income must be stable and fall between 30%-60% of HUD Area Median Income.

• Budget: Your estimated mortgage payment should be between 30% and 35% of your income and mortgage and other debt combined should be no more than 40% of your income.

• Able to afford payment of utilities, taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and the repayment of the interest-free mortgage

3. Willingness to Partner

• Applicants must be willing to perform sweat equity (volunteer) hours

• Been either living or working in the Greater Manchester area for at least one year

• Have a commitment to a drug-free community and no serious criminal history

• Applicants MUST be legal U.S. residents

To qualify, family income must fall within income guidelines based on Family size. Our guidelines are base on 25% to 50% of the HUD Area Median Income. In selecting families, Habitat does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, physical or mental disability, national origin, or family status.

Applicants must:

• Be willing to work on their own home and the homes of others in the Habitat community (this work is called “Sweat Equity”)

• Complete their Sweat Equity requirement before they can purchase the house

• For a two-adult family, contribute 350 hours of Sweat Equity

• Or, for a one-adult family, contribute 200 hours of Sweat Equity

• Prove that they have sufficient income to cover the repayment of the mortgage and all living expenses

• Attend classes on homeownership, finances, and other topics.

Process

Greater Manchester Habitat for Humanity begins the search for prospective applicants once a property is purchased. You may request an application by filling out the per-application information or by calling the office. Once you receive the application, you need to read the included cover letter to make sure you understand what is expected and the documents that need to be returned with the application. Fill out the application completely and return it along with the checklist and required documents to the office by the deadline. If you are experiencing difficulties, please call the office for help.

Once the application is received, it will be reviewed for completeness and a home visit will be scheduled. During the home visit, we will provide general information about Habitat's mission, the home building and ownership process and the financial responsibilities associated with being a homeowner and good neighbor in the community. The home visit will help GMHFH determine the “Need for Adequate Shelter” and the families “Willingness to Partner”, two of the criteria used in the selection process.

After the families finances have been looked at for “Ability to Pay”, the Family Selection committee reviews the applications and selects the most qualified families for to be presented for consideration as a Partner Family. The final selection is made by the Board of Directors in a blind process.

How can you get your name in the Pre-Applicant Database?

Click on the "Register Here!" button below and you will be brought to a page asking for some general information. Once you have submitted the form, you will be brought to a page where you can download the Application and Cover Letter. If you have other questions, please e-mail us at: selection@habitatmanchester.org or call the office at (603) 626-3944.