Prep work started at Ellijay homesite
Grading and site preparation have begun for future construction of two Habitat for Humanity (HFH) homes in Gilmer County.
However, the Habitat chapter that serves Fannin and Gilmer does not yet have qualified applicants for either home to be built on Roberts Ridge Road.
These will be the first homes that Habitat has built here in more than 20 years, confirmed Chris Hall, Fannin-Gilmer Habitat for Humanity executive director.
The Fannin-Gilmer chapter formed in 2002 after one that previously covered Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens dissolved, Hall noted. Since then, pretty much all of its homebuilding has been done in Fannin, although several Habitat home repair projects have been done in Gilmer.
The two 1-acre lots on Roberts Ridge were donated to Habitat by Mitzi Miller, who grew up here. The local Habitat chapter secured a deed to the land earlier this year. Open house meetings, where anyone could learn more about the homeowner program and find out whether or not they qualify, followed in June. Some applications have been received, noted Hall, but various factors prevented anyone from qualifying.
“We had a thin turnout (at those meetings), and we’re still trying to get the word out,” he added. “What we’re also running into is folks applying and not knowing what Habitat is or the whole scope of being a Habitat homeowner.”
To qualify, applicants must have lived or worked for at least one year in the chapter’s service area, which includes Gilmer, Fannin and Polk County, Tenn. Program requirements also include 250 hours of service-related work. Hall said 100 hours of that is sweat equity physical labor, where applicants help build their home or another Habitat home or help with repair projects.
“There is another 100 hours that goes toward volunteering at community organizations (like a nonprofit thrift store) and taking homebuyer education courses,” added Hall. Although Habitat is able to lower homebuilding costs by receiving donated materials and partnering with area builders and service providers, it is not a free home program. Qualified applicants are expected to enter into a 30-year mortgage with a lender, Hall confirmed.
“We’re now funding the builds all the way up to completion and utilizing a third party lender to give them an affordable mortgage. We’re trying to get out of the servicing end of things and holding the mortgage for 30 years,” he added. “That way, Habitat can continue building back to back. It’s the difference between us building a house every three years or (building homes) year by year. There is a small interest component, but we subsidize with a second mortgage that sets silently for 20 years and is then forgiven. That way, we’re still selling houses at a market rate. It doesn’t drive down the property values of the surrounding area, and the homeowner is assured that they will always be paying an affordable mortgage.”
Hall said not much more can be done construction-wise at the Roberts Ridge site until qualified applicants are selected. Installing a septic system will be among the next tasks, but the scope of that work will be determined by the size of the home, which is determined by the size of the family, Hall noted.
“So far, we’ve got our building permit, and we’ve cleared out a ton of trees getting the site prepped. It looks like we’re all clear (on the grading), and we’ve put down about 30-40 feet of gravel. What we need now is a qualified family,” he added.
The Fannin-Gilmer chapter has posted a primer on the Habitat home ownership program at its website, HFHFanninGilmer.org. Hall said he can also be contacted with questions at 706-455-6603 or c.hall@habitatfgc.org.
“We have a brochure that can be seen online or can be mailed to applicants. It goes through all the qualifications and expectations of what Habitat will do and what is expected of them,” he added. “We’ve also put together a one-page pre-application that applicants can fill out. It tells us things like who they are, how many are in the household, their annual income and any debt. We can use that to find out if we can (go any further) with a full mortgage application.”
More open house meetings will probably be scheduled if qualified applicants for the two homes aren’t selected in the next 30 days, Hall noted.
“We’ll hold something at Faith, Hope and Charity like before,” he added. “We actually would love to have four (families) to qualify. That would give us backups in case life or health issues happen. We’ve experienced that in the past, where you get down the line with building a home and something like that happens.”