Building Community
“At first when I heard about the buyback program, I got a little nervous about it. But it’s really the same. Your home is already built, but Habitat goes in and does the renovations so it’s all up to code and new. It’s perfect. It’s a new house. They renovated everything. I think it’s a great program because it keeps the communities together.”
“I am so glad to see the new homes, including the resale of the home in Hudson Hills. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have my family home…As you have always said, “It is a hand up, not a hand out”. I just wanted to let you know how full my heart is that my family and other families have this opportunity to create a loving, affordable, and comfortable home.”
Buying a home is always exciting. Having the neighborhood host a welcome BBQ is next level, and exactly what Ashley Chavez and her family experienced this summer. Ashley and her three teenagers were looking forward to meeting their neighbors and putting down roots. They didn’t have to wait long thanks to Tim and Jenny who organized the gathering to welcome the Chavez family to their new home and community.
Like all Habitat homebuyers, Ashley completed 200 hours of Sweat Equity helping to build homes, and taking homebuyer education classes. Unlike the majority of Asheville Habitat homebuyers, Ashley wasn’t buying a home in a neighborhood currently under construction. So, while she met other Habitat homebuyers during her journey to affordable homeownership, she didn’t meet her new neighbors in the process.
Ashley’s home is a 4-bedroom, 2-bath Habitat home in Shiloh. It’s Green Built certified and located in a neighborhood of other Habitat homes. What makes Ashley’s home different from her neighbors’ is the fact that she is the second owner; she bought a Habitat house as part of our Home Revitalization program. People move for all kinds of reasons. When it makes sense, Asheville Habitat exercises our right to repurchase, revitalizes the home to like-new standards, and then sells it to another qualified homebuyer, like Ashley.
If you’re reading this, you probably know about Habitat’s New Home construction program. And there is a good chance you also know about our Home Repair program. Home Revitalization is our newest program and likely unfamiliar to most of our readers. So we’ve created some FAQs.
Why do people sell their Habitat homes?
We understand that sometimes people need to move for any number of reasons, and Asheville Habitat supports families through their life changes. Fun fact: 70% of Habitat homebuyers are still in their homes while Americans, on average, move every 7 years.
Why does Asheville Habitat buy back homes?
Our Home Revitalization program retains affordable housing stock, helps combat gentrification, and provides more families the opportunity to improve their housing.
How does Asheville Habitat buy back homes?
Habitat mortgages and deeds of trust provide Asheville Habitat with first right of purchase when an owner decides to sell. When it makes sense, Asheville Habitat exercises that right and purchases the home.
What does Asheville Habitat do with previously owned homes?
With support from Home Revitalization sponsors, Asheville Habitat undertakes the renovations needed to return the home to like-new standards. Like all new Habitat homes, revitalized homes are Green Built and energy-efficient.
Asheville Habitat then sells the home to another homebuyer who qualifies for our program. Homebuyers pay an affordable monthly mortgage that does not exceed 30% of their income.
How much does it cost to bring a home back up to like-new standards?
It depends on the age of the home and the maintenance level of the previous owner.
Like our Home Repair program, Home Revitalization helps preserve existing affordable housing stock, helps retain a sense of community in Habitat neighborhoods, and provides additional Habitat homes for purchase.
Interested in becoming a Home Revitalization sponsor? Contact Zoe at ztrout@ashevillehabitat.org.
