Most of the homes at Willowcrest are priced to be affordable to those who make less than 80% of area median income. Three homes at Willowcrest are priced to be affordable to those who make 60% of area median income or less and are experiencing housing instability. See income chart below for what 60% is in dollars.
These homes are funded in part by the Federal Home Loan Bank, which defines those eligible to purchase as meeting these criteria:
(1) lack a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence; or
(2) have a primary nighttime residence that is:
(a) a supervised publicly or privately owned operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); or
(b) a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, camping ground, etc.
Additionally, households will be considered homeless if they:
(a) are fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence or other dangerous or life threatening conditions;
(b) will imminently lose their housing, including housing they rent, or live in without paying rent or are sharing with others; or
(c) are “doubled-up” temporarily in any other household’s dwelling unit.
Potential buyers must also meet Homestead's minimum criteria:
Must have income that is neither too high (over our income limits), or too low (unable to buy the home without cost burden).
Details about qualifying income are published on our website
Be able to secure a conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
Contribute at least 1% of the home purchase price as a downpayment
Applicants for these special homes must submit a form signed by a qualified third-party agency stating that the applicant meets the criteria described above. Qualified agencies include government or nonprofit organizations that provide homeless housing or housing referral services.
Please note that the FHLB form includes reference to qualified applicants who presently own their home. For the purposes of the sales at Willowcrest, current homeowners are excluded by requirements of other funders. Homes at Willowcrest must be sold only to first-time homebuyers. If you have not ever owned a home or if you have not owned a home within the last three years, you qualify as a first-time homebuyer.
Download the form to be completed here: FHLB HOMELESS CERTIFICATION
Updated information: The bottom section of the form must be signed by a third-party that has knowledge of the household's homeless status. Examples of third-parties that can sign this form are: case workers, shelter staff, your employer, the landlord of someone you are temporarily living with, and more. If you have questions about this, please email us at apply@homesteadclt.org.
60% area median income, based on HUD limits published in April 2021, are:
