In 2002, with an income meager enough to scare even lenders knee-deep in risky loans, Farhana Blair and her then-husband couldn’t buy a home.
“I was pregnant with my daughter, and we knew we couldn’t afford to put her in day care, so I decided to stay home with her,” said Blair, whose monthly household income was about $2,000. “On one income we couldn’t get a mortgage. Even if we had gotten it, we probably would have lost the house.”
The couple turned to Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver and got a new two-story house at Toll Gate Crossing in 2006.
Even as homeowners are defaulting in record numbers and builders are shelving plans for new homes, Habitat is thriving.
The nonprofit will build 38 homes this year and plans a similar number next year in the metro area, said Heather Lafferty, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver.
Habitat’s lending formula is the opposite of that used by subprime lenders who qualified bad credit risks for loans they couldn’t pay back.
“We select people we think can meet the challenge of being able to pay their mortgage and maintain their home,” said Had Beatty, a retired lawyer and former Habitat board member.
Habitat has had only five foreclosures in the metro area since 1979 when it began the first of more than 360 homes built here, Beatty said.
That’s as nearly a third of metro- area homes purchased since 2003 are worth less than the amount owed on the mortgages, according to . And about 22 percent of homes sold were in foreclosure during the past year.
About 600 families each year apply to Lafferty’s office for help. Only about 40 qualify, receiving zero-interest mortgages for homes priced at $107,000 to $115,000.
Families must have a household income of $20,000 to $36,000 a year, and they pay $1,500 down.
The future owners must contribute sweat equity, laboring to help build the home or doing other volunteer work for Habitat. They also must participate in a homebuyer education program.
Volunteer labor and donated building materials keep building costs low.
Mike Criner, 48, a retired information technology worker, was running a table saw at a Habitat job site in Aurora last week.
“I just love to build things,” especially for the hardworking people Habitat helps, he said. “These are the kind of people you want to live next door.”
Blair, who now lives in her house with daughter Layla, 5, and son Zane, 4, did most of her work at Habitat’s office and homes of other Habitat clients.
The skills she learned came in handy when she and her husband divorced. She got a sales position at a glass and aluminum company and has since moved to technical support with an oil and gas company.
“I was able to take over the mortgage and get a job real quick,” she said. Habitat “helped through that too.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
