With Habitat for Humanity, you have the opportunity to build in your community!
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Habitat homeowner. We believe that everyone should have a safe, affordable place to call home.
To carry out our vision, we partner with individuals and families from application through construction to when the keys are handed over.
By working with us from beginning to end, we can help prospective individuals prepare for the various responsibilities of homeownership, including learning about personal finances, mortgages, maintenance and upkeep of homes, and much more.
Habitat’s path to homeownership is an important and in-depth process, requiring hard work, time and dedication. But this helps to ensure the long-term success of Habitat homeowners.
Habitat homeowners must be active participants in building a better home and future for themselves and their families. Every Habitat home is an investment. For us, it is one answer to a critical need, and we believe that stronger homes will create stronger communities.
Habitat is committed to making ownership of simple, decent homes affordable for low-income households.
No, we do not give away houses. Habitat homebuyers purchase a home at fair market value.
Maybe. To apply, you must have resided in or commuted to a job within Yellowstone County for at least the past year. Habitat MYV does not provide housing outside of Yellowstone County.
Habitat MYV is currently building a 21 home subdivision on Hawthorne Lane, in Billings Heights’ east side area.
One-level, handicapped accessible, with attached garage. The largest house available at this time is 4 bedrooms.
Applications are distributed and processed only when there are openings in the homebuyer program. There are usually one or two application cycles per year.
If you are interested in applying, please contact our Homebuyer Services office at 406-652-0960 or at applications@billingshabitat.org to learn when the next application cycle will begin.
Our homebuyer program does not provide emergency or immediate housing. Applicants who are approved into the program will complete “sweat equity labor,” which includes working on our construction sites building homes, and completing educational workshops. Each homebuyer household completes these requirements over the course of 12 to 24 months before purchasing and moving into their home.
Habitat MYV will make reasonable accommodations for sweat equity fulfillment, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We have partnered with several disabled homebuyers over the years.
Yes, Habitat serves households of all sizes.
Habitat for Humanity sells homes at no profit, and provides mortgage loans at 0% interest (or “zero equivalent”), so that monthly payments are within reach for folks who qualify. Habitat also structures mortgage loan packages to be affordable based on the individual circumstances of each homebuyer.
An Income Guideline chart will be provided with your application materials. Qualifying income levels are based on the number of members in the household. Habitat uses low-income guidelines that are specific to Yellowstone County, and which are updated annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The amount of debt you are carrying will be considered in calculating your ability to pay a Habitat mortgage loan. If you have a lot of debt, you might be disqualified until your debt is reduced to a level that you can afford to pay. A definite determination could only be made if you apply to the program and provide the required income and debt documentation.
If you are selected into the program, any judgment(s) must be paid off before you qualify for a home to be built.
You are temporarily disqualified from the program if you are currently in bankruptcy or if you have had a bankruptcy discharged within the past year.
No, but you will be required to save for and pay certain loan closing costs. Habitat will provide financial education to help you learn budgeting and saving to succeed in reaching your goal.
Habitat builds simple, decent, affordable houses that are sized according to the makeup of the buyer’s household. Our house sizing policy provides that two children of the same sex will share a bedroom if they are less than 5 years apart in age. The largest house available at this time is 4 bedrooms.
Habitat requires the homebuyer to live in the home as his/her primary residence (i.e., you may not rent it out).
If any member of your household has been convicted of a sexual offense, your household is disqualified. If any member of your household has been convicted of a violent felony within the past 5 years, your household is disqualified until the conviction is more than 5 years in the past. Other types of criminal convictions may be evaluated by the Selection Committee, but are not necessarily disqualifying.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
