We are currently accepting applications for homes in the City of Cleveland. We are not accepting applications for 1- or 2-person households at this time due to limited housing availability. 

Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity provides you with the coaching, education and support to be successful in your homebuying journey. Habitat enables you to buy a home with an affordable mortgage.

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Four Steps to Homeownership

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Step 1: Review Qualifications

To be eligible for Greater Cleveland Habitat Homeownership Program, you must be able to demonstrate:

A need for improved housing: 
Applicants must be living in substandard or inadequate housing that does not meet your needs, living in subsidized housing, or your current housing expenses exceed 30% of your monthly income. 
Examples of inadequate housing can be things such as:

• Structural or mechanical problems in the home
• Unsanitary conditions or health risks 
• Overcrowded housing conditions 
• Temporary housing (such as staying with family or friends)

This is not a comprehensive list and we encourage you to apply and let us help determine if you meet this criteria.

Ability to pay an affordable mortgage payment (will not exceed 30% of your monthly income)
Mortgage payments include closing costs, taxes and insurance. The ability to pay criteria is listed as a part of step 2.

Willingness to partner with Habitat
All applicants must show a willingness to partner with Habitat in the homeownership program by being willing to invest “sweat equity” hours into their home and our organization. You earn sweat equity hours by working to help in building your home and the homes of others, attending homeownership classes, working in the Habitat ReStores or other approved activities. You will be expected to participate in between 200 – 250 hours of “sweat equity”, depending on the house you select. 

Applicants must also be willing to live in the neighborhoods that GCHFH is currently building and must be willing to accept the standard Habitat house-designs or rehabilitated house designs. You will be required to be respectful, cooperative and willing to participate in the program through regular communication.

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Step 2: Confirm your household meets income requirements

• The total monthly gross household income must fall within the guidelines on the chart above for the current year. Gross income is calculated before taxes and deductions are taken out of paycheck.
• Total income means the total of ALL forms of income — for ALL members of the household over the age of 18. Household Income consists of wages, salaries, tips, income from self-employment, social security payments, SSI, SSD, child support and alimony. Habitat does not count food stamps, OWF, or WEP as income sources.

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Step 3: Confirm you meet the following credit requirements

Example: If a credit card has $3,000 balance and payments are current, this is not considered a "bad" debt. However, if a credit card is in default and is in collections, that would be considered a "bad" debt. 

You can check your credit by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. You are entitled to receive one free copy from each of the three credit reporting agencies one time per year by visiting this website.

How your credit history is used
Your credit history is a good indicator of your ability to meet your financial obligations and therefore Habitat takes credit reports into account when determining an applicant’s eligibility. We do not use credit scores in our assessment of eligibility; however, we evaluate whether you are timely in paying debts. We carefully review your credit report to see if there are collections, open judgments, or recent bankruptcies/foreclosures. 

Please note: Married applicants can apply individually, but spouse must consent to and agree to sign a release of dower rights at time of home purchase.  The spouse, who is not an applicant, will not have their income or debts counted when determining if the applicant meets the ability to pay criteria, but their income and assets may be considered to determine if the household income is within Habitat’s guidelines.
 

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Step 4: Pre-Qualify*

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Click this link or the button above to fill out our pre-qualification application. Please be sure to complete all required fields and answer all questions carefully and to the best of your ability. Once you submit your form, our team will review your information and follow up within 30 days to determine next steps. If you meet our qualifications, you will be required to complete a more comprehensive application, including identity, income, asset, and liability verification.

Please note: We are not accepting applications for 1- or 2-person households at this time due to limited housing availability. Current opportunities are only in the City of Cleveland, not Lorain County.

Please send an email to homeownership@clevelandhabitat.org with any questions.