The process of financing a Habitat home begins with you. Your gift to NOAHH through donations or volunteering contributes to the special financing process used to make homeownership affordable by funding the materials, staff, and administrative costs that go into the building of a home.
NOAHH recruits partner families who serve 250 hours of volunteer time in the ReStore and on the build site in lieu of a down payment on their homes. The sweat equity process, including the classes and volunteering hours, gives partner families the tools and information they need to maintain their home and keep to a budget that will help them pay for it.
- Monthly payments are determined on a sliding scale and are never more than 30% of household income.
- The mortgage has 0% interest.
- Partner families gain instant equity, but NOAHH holds a soft second mortgage representing the difference between the construction cost and the assessed value that is forgiven over 20 years.
NOAHH serves as the mortgage originator, loaning the money to the partner family, and all of the money paid back to NOAHH on the mortgages is recycled into our home ownership program, meaning that every partner family we serve helps serve other partner families.