How would you feel about a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood ...

[Rhonda in TX]

going in very close to your own?

 

We recently found out that they are going to be building a H for H neighborhood very, very close to ours. A friend who lives in the neighborhood is freaking out. She's worried about property values and an undesirable element. We live in a upper middle class neighborhood, but not the best of the best. There are houses that go for upwards of half a million, but others that go for the mid-100's. (remember Houston housing market prices are lower than in other parts of the country) It's a very diverse neighborhood.

 

DH and I are not as worried (friend is going to put her house on the market any day now). At least, not about the "undesirable element". From what we understand, the people who get H for H homes have to work hard for them. We respect that. We are, however, concerned about our property values.

 

Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Kelli in TN]

A friend who lives in the neighborhood is freaking out. She's worried about property values and an undesirable element.

 

 

 

 

At least, not about the "undesirable element". From what we understand, the people who get H for H homes have to work hard for them. We respect that. We are, however, concerned about our property values.

 

Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

I would first try to communicate some truth to the friend. If that did not work I would be in the market for a new friend.

 

Seriously.

 

Habitat does not build slums, run by slum lords and rented out to drug dealers. Habitat builds homes, with and for homeowners. The homeowners are thoroughly checked out by Habitat and they have to invest sweat equity into their house as well as carrying the mortgage.

 

Can you tell Habitat is one of my favorite organizations?

[OnTheBrink]

I'd be more concerned about "projects" or HUD housing than I would H for H. And, I've lived in HUD housing; I know what it's like!

 

From what I understand about H for H, the families don't get the homes for free; they do have to repay the loans, but the interest is low; and, I think they have to actually help with the building. From what I've seen, when people have to actually invest themselves into something, they value it more and care for it better. Generally speaking, of course.

[BamaTanya]

In our area VERY EXPENSIVE NEIGHBORHOODS are right beside modest ones. I wouldn't worry about Habitat homes near you. I would worry if a drug dealer bought the house beside you. Habitat homes should appreciate/depreciate based on the same market conditions as your neighborhood.

[TraceyS/FL]

My only experience with H for H homes are the 2 that we have in our neighborhood. The 2nd is almost complete - both of those home replaced very old mobile homes from the 70's that were destroyed in the Tornado last year. So for us, they have raised our value.

 

The homes are very nice looking, and each are on their owners 1/2-1 acre lots when does make a difference.

 

It's hard to say - i think i'd rather have the H for H neighborhood than the "low income government housing" that a friend is having go in.

 

Our town seems to be doing a very good job making sure that projects LOOK nice though, even the "fixed income" type of apartments that are going in right now is NICE looking. I'd rather have that than some of the others we have around.

 

So, i'll quit rambling right now....

 

BUT, have you been able to see the plans for the neighborhood? Are they aiming to make them look different from each other? The one neighborhood in CA we had, all the houses looked the same. I saw a show on Trading Spaces a few months ago where they did 2 H for H homes and that neighborhood didn't all LOOK the same, just looked like any other one.

 

Your area sounds pretty varied though in housing, so maybe it won't lower the values?

[Jenny in Atl]

I think you should encourage your friend to help in the building of one of these homes. Maybe then she might see that these are people with a vested interest in having a thriving neighborhood. I would welcome a HH neighborhood near me. Better than the 600K+ developments that dot our area and make for a melba toast community.

[PiCO]

I know a family who got a HH home. This family of 4 had been living in a 2-bedroom apartment. They had lost their home and all their savings when the husband became ill- doctors took a year to figure out what was wrong while he withered away to nothing. They finally figured it out, and cured him... but he was left with absolutely enormous medical bills, no job, no home, and no money.

 

They are extremely hard working, upstanding citizens. They had to put in hundreds of hours building their new home, much of time getting babysitters for their girls (I babysat a couple times.) They do not complain about anything.

 

I would love to have these people for neighbors. I agree with others- HH homes are a different animal than HUD or projects.

[bkpan]

I love Habitat as well. I tried to rep you Kelli, but it said I had to spread it around some more.

 

Kim in TN (used to be in NV)

 

 

I would first try to communicate some truth to the friend. If that did not work I would be in the market for a new friend.

 

Seriously.

 

Habitat does not build slums, run by slum lords and rented out to drug dealers. Habitat builds homes, with and for homeowners. The homeowners are thoroughly checked out by Habitat and they have to invest sweat equity into their house as well as carrying the mortgage.

 

Can you tell Habitat is one of my favorite organizations?

[klmama]

That would be the only concern I would have concerning property values. If the houses are significantly smaller it might lower them a bit, but I'm not sure. I've seen some HH houses that were really tiny, and I wondered about the property value effects, but they were really cute houses and didn't stand out in any other negative way. A friend of mine built a HH houses years ago for her family of 6, and they worked very hard to help build other houses first, then their own. They just didn't have much money, but they did have jobs to help them pay for the mortgage on a HH house built with mostly used materials.

[elegantlion]

My dh has worked with H for H several times, one time as a employee. I've seen the houses go up in all sorts of locations, usually on vacant lots. I can't imagine a vacant lot being more desirable than a brand new home.

 

Most of the sizes have been comparable to other existing structures. These families have to be approved and then work on the property so I imagine they might be better qualified some of the existing homeowners, in the ability to own and maintain their property.

 

I would encourage you and your neighbor to volunteer and get to know the family that is going to live there. It would go a long way to help build community, IMO.

[G5052]

I did some web development for the local group, and they showed me the statistics for their local projects. The rate of default is very, very low, and it's extremely rare that their screening process allows someone through who is "bad." They are very picky about who gets their homes, way more picky than some lenders were before the loan crises. There are neighborhoods in our area with a 1/4 or more houses in default because of shady loans. I would think that a Habitat neighborhood would be far more desirable than that. Also given the range of housing you already have in your area, I wouldn't worry about it pulling down the values either.

[ticklbee]

H for H has a basket program that our co-op participated in last year. They give you a list of needs the family may have for setting up house keeping and you purchase the items and make up a basket. Perhaps your friend can get involved in something like this. She could even attend the dedication ceremony and present the basket herself. Something like this will go a long way into building strong relationships with her neighbors.

[Tracey in TX]

going in very close to your own?

 

We recently found out that they are going to be building a H for H neighborhood very, very close to ours. A friend who lives in the neighborhood is freaking out. She's worried about property values and an undesirable element. We live in a upper middle class neighborhood, but not the best of the best. There are houses that go for upwards of half a million, but others that go for the mid-100's. (remember Houston housing market prices are lower than in other parts of the country) It's a very diverse neighborhood.

 

DH and I are not as worried (friend is going to put her house on the market any day now). At least, not about the "undesirable element". From what we understand, the people who get H for H homes have to work hard for them. We respect that. We are, however, concerned about our property values.

 

Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

It will affect your property value. If you're not planning on selling anytime soon, it won't matter much. I would be freaking out, too. We worked hard to live in an upper class community and would dislike having lower quality homes in the vicinity, much like having subsidized housing in more desirable sides of town. It devalues property values, but taxes often rise b/c lower cost homes don't bring in same amount of revenue. I, for one, would fight to ensure HH homes are placed elsewhere.

 

For those who don't live in Texas: we don't pay income tax, so the taxes are made up in property taxes. They are horrifically expensive here, given the cost of homes.

[Jenny in Atl]

 

For those who don't live in Texas: we don't pay income tax, so the taxes are made up in property taxes. They are horrifically expensive here, given the cost of homes.

 

Then I doubt you need to worry a HH neighborhood will be build in an area with very high property taxes.

[summer]

I would not want a house that would bring down property values. Otherwise, I would not have an issue.

[Rhonda in TX]

It sounds like what I expected - hard-working families that need some help. I'm absolutely fine with that.

 

It may be that our property values may take a slight hit, but we already have some things that affect it (apartments, duplexes, neighborhood with smaller homes), so it probably won't be too bad.

 

We love our neighborhood and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. :)

[Carol in Cal.]

Habitat houses involve at least 500 hours of work from the family who will own them--half of that can be from their extended family, but half of it must be from their immediate family.

 

Whenever they take applicants, they have around 250 families applying per house. They can afford to be very picky.

 

The land is usually given to Habitat as a low income housing set aside, so that a conventional builder doesn't have to build and sell low income housing as part of a development. It tends to be in a poorer part of town, but not a bad one or a slum area.

 

The homes are modest but clean, intact, and nice. Because the people spend so much time building them, they tend to have learned how to maintain them. And they are working while volunteering, so they are energetic, hardworking people.

 

The mortgage is a no interest loan, and much of the materials and often the land are donated; so the monthly cost is quite low for the families. In addition, the families must have immaculate credit ratings to be accepted. And, if they decide to move before the mortgage term is done (30 years), they cannot sell the house. They just recover the amount that they have paid in over the years, but the house reverts to Habitat who then passes it on to someone else somehow.

 

I attended a dedication of 5 Habitat homes 2 years ago, and each of the families committed publicly to working as volunteers on other houses ongoing. They had also all put in more than twice the required volunteer hours toward the builds before their homes were completed.

 

In summary, these are nice, moral, hardworking people who have been down on their luck and have received a hand up as well as a hand. I would be pleased and proud to have them as friends and neighbors.

[*anj*]

Imagine, some people work very hard all their lives and are very happy to have a HH home (or any home for that matter).

 

Amen. How about that?

 

I think that HH is a wonderful organization. They lend a hand to people who aren't quite able to pull up on their own. If you think about it, isn't that kind of what agrarian communities did in the past? Isn't it what the Amish and old order Mennonites do now?

 

The farmer who supplies us with eggs, cheese, and chicken recently took a trip to Ukraine with some of his sons. They spent 10 days helping to build some houses and a church. Can you imagine?

 

I wouldn't be worried about a HH house being built in my neighborhood.

I am more worried about the upper middle class hoodlums who live around the corner from me who terrorized my ds with their bb guns and got away with a lot of other nonsense because there was no adult at home to supervise them.