Become a Homeowner

We are proud to be expanding our opportunities for families to partner with Broome County Habitat for Humanity. Our program has a long, successful history in our community. View our history of homes​!

Family Selection & Partnership Program

BCHFH builds new and rehabs existing homes with the mission of providing support and guidance to families as they pursue their goal of homeownership.  We strive to provide our partner families with safe, energy efficient, updated homes.  Families who partner with BCHFH are required to enroll in First Time Home Buyer education instruction and counseling with the Binghamton Homeownership Academy, http://binghamtonhomeownershipacademy.org.

This curriculum includes Financial Literacy and Budgeting, Mortgage Financing, Foreclosure Prevention and the Purchase Process including home inspections, appraisals and how to determine the best mortgage partner for the purchase.  It is a vital element of our program requirements in order to assure successful homeownership for our partner families.

Families wishing to participate in the Habitat program must be first time home buyers, a displaced marital partner from a divorce or death of spouse, or not have owned property in the last 36 months.

Other program requirements may include the following:

1. Steady Income: which is necessary to meet your mortgage payments as well as provide for utilities (heat, electric, water, refuse, etc.), homeownership insurance, taxes, and necessary maintenance.  We aim to serve families whose annual gross income maximum is 60%-90% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Broome/Tioga counties.
2. Housing:
   1. You are currently living in sub-standard housing (e.g., leaking roof, overcrowding, unsafe neighborhood inadequate heat or sanitary conditions, structural problems). 

                               - OR -
              2. Financial need for housing: It can also mean that you are paying more than 30% of your gross income on                      rent (cost-burdened).  In other words, if more than 30% of your gross household income is going to keeping a                    roof over your head and thus depriving your family of adequate nutrition, clothing, and education, you might                      qualify even if your current housing conditions are not considered substandard.
    3.   Sweat equity: You must be willing to invest 200-400 hours of labor in Habitat projects (depending on family size).              This constitutes your “sweat equity” in your home. 50% of the hours must be completed by the applicant (s) on the            construction site. The remaining 50% can be completed by family and friends as well as the applicant(s) and can              take on many forms including additional construction hours, volunteering in our Habitat office, and other volunteer            activities offered by Broome/Tioga Habitat. 
     4.  Credit: Qualified applicants must meet minimum credit score requirements that enables them to obtain                         financing from a mortgage lender.*
     5. Ownership:  You cannot have owned a home within three (3) years of applying for our program. 

*Applicants for this program must be able to obtain mortgage pre-qualification from one of BCHFH partner lenders.

For current program requirements and information contact our office at 607-239-4783.
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