Want to Own a Home? We’ll Email You When It’s Time to Apply
Thank you for your interest in a Beaches Habitat for Humanity home!
We are not accepting applications right now.
If you want to hear about future homeownership opportunities, fill out the form below to share your contact information.
This is not an application or a waiting list.
By signing up, you’re giving us permission to email you when we open the application process.
After you sign up, check your email. You’ll get a message asking you to confirm.
You must click the link in that email to get future updates.
If you don’t see the email, check your spam or junk folder.
Already get emails from us? You won’t need to confirm again.
Not sure? Call us at (904) 595-5793.
Where We Build
The map below outlines our service area and is available for your convenience. Please note, while we have done our best to make the map accurate, Beaches Habitat will determine if you are eligible for our programs.
What We Build
Beaches Habitat builds 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom homes. Land is very expensive to purchase in the beaches area. Therefore, we may build a few single-family dwellings, but primarily, we build townhomes.
Our homes are decent, affordable, and built in partnership, prioritizing long-term resident health, safety, and affordability. That means:
- They are modest in size: a typical home is approximately 1,200 square feet.
- The design is standardized.
- They do not include garages or carports.
- They comply with all applicable building and zoning codes and with Habitat construction standards.
Application Process
Complete pre-questionnaire
Potential applicants will begin by completing a pre-questionnaire to help determine if they meet our program guidelines.
Lottery for applications
Completed pre-questionnaires will be entered into a lottery. Each pre-questionnaire will be assigned a random, computer-generated number. The assigned number will determine the order in which they will be considered to submit an application.
Complete an application
Beaches Habitat will invite potential applicants to apply and give them one week to submit a completed application with required documentation, including income and family status.
Application review
Beaches Habitat will review each application submitted to determine eligibility, including a credit check, criminal background check, and public record review. Beaches Habitat will interview applicants and may request a home visit.
Notification and acceptance
Beaches Habitat will notify approved applicants and schedule a meeting for the applicant to review and sign the partnership agreement to become a homeowner.
Selection Criteria
Beaches Habitat for Humanity selects potential homeowners based on the following criteria:
- Residency within our service area
- Need for affordable housing
- Ability to repay an affordable mortgage
- Willingness to partner with Beaches Habitat
More details about the selection criteria will be provided when pre-questionnaires become available.
After Selection
After being approved for homeownership, future homeowners will begin completing "Sweat Equity." Sweat equity includes time on the construction site helping to build homes and educational workshops. The educational workshop series consists of several topics designed to help prepare the future homeowner for the responsibilities of homeownership. They include:
- Budgeting and Finances
- Understanding Closing Documents
- Home Maintenance
- and more...
Frequently Asked Questions
Families in need of decent, affordable housing apply for homeownership with their local Habitat for Humanity.
At Beaches Habitat, our family selection committee considers the following criteria:
- The applicant’s residency,
- their need for housing,
- their willingness to partner with Beaches Habitat, and
- their ability to repay a mortgage through an affordable payment plan.
As part of their willingness to partner, Beaches Habitat’s homebuyers invest hundreds of hours of their own labor, called sweat equity, working alongside volunteers and other Beaches Habitat homeowners.
Habitat for Humanity follows a nondiscriminatory policy of family selection. When choosing Habitat's homeowners, we seek qualified candidates in a manner that does not unlawfully discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, gender or gender expression, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve/national guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
The labor of volunteers and future homeowners, efficient building methods, modest house sizes, and no-profit loans make it affordable for low- to moderate-income families to purchase Habitat houses.
Financial and in-kind contributions from community- and faith-based organizations, corporations, and individuals, as well as grants from the government and private sector, are also important to make building affordable homes sustainable.
When homes become available, a form ("pre-questionnaire") will be available to express interest in homeownership. Those who complete the pre-questionnaire will be entered into a lottery for applications.
Please visit our Homeownership page for more information on the process.
To be eligible, applicants must have a credit score of 640 or higher.
Applications require a hard pull of your credit report. Credit history and monthly debt obligations will be reviewed.
“Sweat equity” is Habitat’s term for the volunteer labor that homeowners contribute to building their homes and the homes of their neighbors, as well as the time they spend in financial and homeowner education courses. Future homeowners are required to complete sweat equity as part of their qualification for our program.
Sweat equity can be fulfilled through a combination of class participation, construction activities, and other pre-approved volunteer opportunities. Individuals with a documented medical need may have access to alternative options for sweat equity hours through a partner organization.
Sweat equity requirements are as follows:
- Single applicant - 300 hours
- Double applicant - 200 hours each
- Household members, age 18 and older - 100 hours each
| Beaches Habitat Standards / SHIP Median Income Limits | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,900 | $57,400 |
| 2 | $41,000 | $65,600 |
| 3 | $46,150 | $73,800 |
| 4 | $51,250 | $82,000 |
| 5 | $55,350 | $88,600 |
| 6 | $59,450 | $95,150 |
| 7 | $63,550 | $101,700 |
| 8 | $67,650 | $108,250 |
| Income limits issued by US Dept of Housing and Urban Development Effective April 1, 2025 for federal funding sources. | ||
A homeowner's monthly payment will include the mortgage payment, homeowner's association dues, homeowner's insurance, and property taxes. The mortgage terms will be adjusted so that the total payment does not exceed 30% of a household's gross monthly income.
No. Part of the willingness to partner criteria includes accepting the home that is assigned to you by Beaches Habitat for Humanity.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity does business in accordance with the Federal Fair Housing Law. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of the U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve/national guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Beaches Habitat for Humanity, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified personnel for all our positions in a manner that does not unlawfully discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve/national guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.