Tesfaye N., his wife Yemata and their kids have lived in their three-bedroom home in Bothell’s Holly Hills neighborhood for ten years. The house is a far cry from the two-bedroom apartment on Capitol Hill the family called home for many years.
“The rent was unstable. We could never save money,” says Tesfaye, who immigrated with his wife from Ethiopia to Washington in 2003. (Families requested first names be used for this article to protect their privacy.)
During a recent virtual interview, Tesfaye’s son Michael was getting ready for soccer practice as daughter Tsion chatted excitedly about the Running Start nursing program at North Creek High School. Yemata was at work, but tinsel Christmas decorations gleamed in the background. Daughter Beamlak, Tesfaye proudly notes, attends college at the University of Southern California.
In other words, the scene was that of a thriving, happy family.
The house has three bedrooms, a yard, and a community. They love their home, Tesfaye says, and more importantly they aren’t constantly worrying about their home.
Thanks to Habitat for Humanity’s Homeownership program, they’ll never have to worry about rent again.
Habitat Homeownership Helps Families — and Society
Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King/Kittitas County has helped more than 2,600 people in the region find safe, stable housing. They offer several ways to help people find, buy, and stay in their homes, a desperately needed service during an unprecedented housing crisis.
Right now, with mortgage rates hovering around 6-8% and the average home price in King County a whopping $800,000, homeownership can feel like a pipe dream for working class families. Meanwhile, rent is so expensive it’s hard to save for a down payment. Even as the national rental market cooled, Seattle’s average rent increased. It currently costs around $2,700 per month for a two-bedroom apartment in the city.
Residential stability is important for a healthy society. When rents are high and homeownership is difficult to attain, cities begin to experience frequent turnover, or churn, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.
Even long-time Seattle residents feel the squeeze. Today Scott G. owns a Habitat home in Highland Terrace, but says, “In the past, my average airline industry income made living in Seattle productive and comfortable. [But] as local housing costs soared, I found myself completely priced out of ‘my’ city — my home of the last 35 years. It felt like we were drowning.”
Stable housing is crucial for children’s development as well. Research shows housing instability negatively affects children’s physical, mental, and social-emotional health. Families who are forced to move frequently become stressed. They can lose access to social services, and their kids can have trouble making friends at school.
How Habitat Homeownership Works
The Habitat Homeownership program works like this: prospective homebuyers must earn 80% or less than the median income for the area. In King County, for example, the maximum income for applicants is about $110,000 per year for a family of four, including all household income. Homebuyers must be able to pay the mortgage, connect with the community (either by residing or working in the community), and partner with Habitat through volunteer work.
Once accepted, Habitat representatives work with lenders approved by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to provide homebuyers with an affordable mortgage. The commission offers several programs to help low-income families purchase homes.
If the Habitat homebuyer can’t secure a mortgage for the full price of the home, Habitat finances the remainder. The homebuyer can work at a Habitat building site or in one of Habitat’s three Habitat for Humanity Stores.
Tesfaye applied to the program three times before he was accepted for a home in Bothell.
“The process is not easy. There is a lot of paperwork,” he says. Tesfaye worked in the Habitat for Humanity Store toward fulfillment of his Habitat partnership.
Other Habitat buyers have enjoyed learning practical construction skills: Sam M., who recently moved with her daughter to a Habitat home in South Park, says “I learned so many skills building the homes. I had never used a chop saw in my life and now I could do that!”
The Intangibles
When Habitat SKKC surveyed its homeowners, they reported significant long-term improvement in categories like health, school, careers, financial security, safety, and overall quality of life.
Respondents — 99% of them — reported increased emotional health and happiness.
Ten years on, Tesfaye and his family are flourishing in Holly Hills.
“Bothell is quiet, safe, a great place to raise kids, and the schools are great,” Tesfaye says. “When I lived in an apartment, there was no money left over. Now I can afford to pay for some things for my daughter because I save some money. It is very important for me to have this Habitat house,” says Tesfaye.
“I know it sounds corny,” Scott says. “Habitat felt like it was pulling us up into a lifeboat of possibility.”
