homebuyer program
PLEASE NOTE: We will only accept candidates who have lived or worked in our service area for at least one year. The counties in our service area are Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth and North Fulton. We no longer build in North Fulton; all new homes will be constructed in either Cherokee or Forsyth County.
Please review the information below to learn about our basic program requirements, including the income required to own a home.
qualifications
To be eligible to apply for homeownership with Habitat-NCG:
- You must be a US citizen or a permanent legal resident
- You must have lived OR worked in Cherokee County, Forsyth County, North Fulton area, or Dawson County for at least one year
- You have a steady, verifiable source of income for the last 24 months at the income level required on the chart below based on your family size.
- Your household income before taxes must be within the following limits:
| Number of People Living in the Home | Income Before Taxes Not Less Than | Income Before Taxes Not More Than |
| 1 | $27,000 | $47,250 |
| 2 | $30,850 | $54,010 |
| 3 | $34,700 | $60,740 |
| 4 | $38,550 | $67,470 |
| 5 | $41,650 | $72,910 |
| 6 | $44,725 | $78,295 |
| 7 | $47,825 | $83,705 |
| 8 | $50,900 | $89,090 |
Minimum & maximum income limits are established by HUD Home Program. Visit https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/home-datasets/files/HOME_IncomeLmts_State_GA_2022.pdf
criteria
Homeowners are selected based on three criteria:
Need for Housing
- Your present housing is not adequate (unsafe, not maintained, overcrowded, and/or unaffordable.)
- You are unable to obtain affordable housing through other conventional means.
Willingness to Partner
- You agree to complete 150 hours of sweat equity. Sweat equity hours are earned by helping to build your and other families’ homes alongside volunteers.
- You agree to complete six homeowner education classes.
Ability to Pay
- You have a steady, verifiable source of income.
- You have good credit (based on your credit report, NOT your credit score).
application process
The first step in our process is to review the requirements of our program listed above. Review all of the general requirements INCLUDING the income required for the last 24 months (based on the size of your family). Please note that good credit and repayment history is a very important requirement too.
One recent change to our program requirements: We will only accept candidates who have lived or worked in our service area for at least one year. The counties in our service area are Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth, and North Fulton.
Once you have reviewed all of the requirements above, if you believe you might qualify, you must participate in a preliminary phone interview.
During this phone interview, we will ask a series of questions to review your basic eligibility for our program. If we determine you meet the basic requirements, we will schedule an informational meeting with a member of our Family Services staff in our office for a date in the near future. The informational meeting will give you a complete explanation of our program and provide you with answers to your questions. At the conclusion of the informational meeting, we will provide you with an application to complete and return with all of the documents we require.
The entire process takes about one year before an approved applicant will have a home built and ready for move-in.
Our Program has approved a sufficient number of future homeowners for the next several months. It is important we not over commit our ability to the community. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
For further questions, email familyservices@habitat-ncg.org
If you do not meet our requirements, you can review the list of other local agencies who might be able to assist you by clicking here.