Orange Habitat has been building new homes since 1984, but noticed a need to serve existing homeowners and began repairs in 2010. Originally only completing basic beautification repairs like painting and landscaping, the repair program now completes more critical repairs for Orange County residents as well as repairs for Habitat homeowners.
Home Preservation Program
The Home Preservation Program supports affordable homeownership to Orange County residents to help preserve existing households and assist homeowners to live in healthy, safe and accessible homes.
Families and individuals who purchase an Orange County Habitat home may sell the home at any time. Habitat’s goal is to maintain a stock of affordable housing in the county. If a Homeowner chooses to sell their home, Habitat has the first option to buy the home back. This stipulation is called “Right of First Refusal”.
The Home Preservation Program supports affordable homeownership to Orange County residents to help preserve existing households and assist homeowners to live in healthy, safe and accessible homes.
The program seeks to preserve affordable homeownership and assist homeowners to live in healthy, safe and accessible homes. Types of repairs include but are not limited to:
Critical Repairs
Roof repairs
Heating and cooling
Accessibility Modifications
Bathroom modifications
Ramps and decks
Qualifications for home preservation repairs include:
Robert has lived in Chapel Hill all his life and doesn’t see himself living anywhere else. Before retiring, he worked at UNC Health as an Operating Room Technician. Robert is also a proud veteran of the US Army serving on the missile crew from 1971-1973. Hestill has a community of fellow veterans he keeps in touch with as well as being connected to his church. Robert now spends most of his free time with his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Taking care of his great grandchildren motivated him to take action to repair his home. His roof was in desperate need of repairing since it was not insulating the home well. He also did not have any heat in the home, making the winter months very cold in his home. He relied on space heaters to warm his living room and one bedroom, even though he feared for the safety of himself and the young children that spent time in the home.
Habitat homes play a vital role in Orange County’s affordable housing landscape. We strive to preserve the affordable housing inventory which helps to maintain and continue to build strong communities. As a result, when Habitat homes are purchased, resale restrictions are attached to the home.
If you decide to sell your home, simply send a written request expressing your desire to sell to: homeownerservices@orangehabitat.org, or, call 919-932-7077.
Habitat staff will acknowledge your request and discuss the selling process and resale restrictions with you. If Habitat chooses to purchase your home, a third-party appraiser will schedule a visit to conduct an appraisal to determine the current fair market value. After an appraisal report is provided, you will meet with the VP of Homeowner Services to review a resale analysis.
If you (the seller) and Habitat agree on the resale analysis and purchase price, both parties will sign documents agreeing to the terms of the sale and a closing date will be set. At closing, you’ll execute the sale, money and keys will be exchanged and you’ll be off to start your new journey!
If Habitat chooses not to buy your home, you are free to sell your home on the open real estate market to an income-qualified buyer as defined in your original Deed of Trust and/or Written Agreements.
Meet a Homeowner Renee
While Habitat builds homes for people to live and grow in, life plans change and families sometimes need to move and sell their homes. Renee first bought her Habitat home in 2007 and have gone through the process of moving and selling her home with her now husband Charles.
“We got to buy an affordable home. Once we partnered with Habitat, we got to help build other people’s homes and they got to build ours. We really built a bond with those people.”
While it is important to have savings to make repairs on your home, there are times when emergencies happen, and a homeowner needs access to a loan to get things fixed. The Habitat Emergency Loan Program Repair is designed for Orange Habitat homeowners who need an emergency repair to their home. These repairs can be quite costly, which is why Habitat offers our homeowners a 0% interest loan to use for home repairs. In addition, Habitat is available to complete the repairs or use one of our outside contractors to complete work.
Qualifications for the Habitat Emergency Loan Program include:
Being an Orange Habitat Homeowner
Having an Urgent Critical Repair (roof, HVAC, sewer/septic, or water heater repair/replacement or accessibility modifications)
Household income is below 80% of the Area Median Income
