About the House

TYPE: 4 Bedroom/ 2 Bath

STYLE: Single family home

HOUSE SIZE: 1,376 square feet

LOCATION: On McKinley Ave in Shiloh

CONSTRUCTION START: Tuesday, February 7, 2023

STATUS:

Meet the Future Homeowners

“I have always struggled finding affordable housing that is safe for my children…Habitat Homeownership would allow me to release my worries about the unknowns that come up in renting.”

– from Ashley’s application letter

Habitat’s newest homebuyer, Ashley, is a native to Western NC, and has lived in Asheville for over 15 years. She is a mother of three who has recently had to adjust to the challenges and rewards of single parenting. In addition to being the pillar of support for her family, Ashley works full-time as a re-entry counselor for community members who have been incarcerated, and helps her clients successfully transition back into regular life. While Ashley is a professional navigator of life’s greatest challenges, the spiking cost of living has left her unsure of where to turn next.

The family currently lives in a subsidized rental where her fraternal twins share a room. In an effort to provide a permanent home for her family of four, Ashley sought accessible options for affordable mortgage loans. Despite securing a loan, Ashley found that it could not cover the cost of any available home in Asheville’s competitive market. She began to feel that the stability of homeownership was unachievable, and that she would forever remain a renter whose home could be taken at the whim of her landlord, or where her subsidy could be taken away if she were to earn an increase in income.

About Buybacks

People move for all kinds of reasons, and when it makes sense, Asheville Habitat exercises our right to repurchase, make renovations, and then sell the home to another individual or family who qualifies for our program.

This preserves affordable housing stock and provides another family, like Ashley’s, with the opportunity to improve their housing. Ashley will purchase a previously owned Habitat home that is energy-efficient and Green Built-certified.