Habitat for Humanity has been building homes in the Yakima Valley for four decades, and it just handed over the keys to number 214.
Yakima Valley Partners Habitat for Humanity recently dedicated its 214th home, Apple Valley News Now reported. The new house is at The Vines, a Habitat housing development off West Mead Avenue in Yakima. Six homes are finished there, and four more are in development.
And the group isn't slowing down.
"We are building seven houses this next fiscal year and we build houses throughout Yakima County so we've got some builds going on in Sunnyside, Wapato and there's four more at The Vines," Executive Director Meloney Rosen told the station. She said the goal is to keep adding more housing to the market.
The $100,000 gap
The hardest part of Habitat's work isn't the building. It's the math.
Rosen said a typical Habitat buyer can afford a mortgage of about $125,000 to $175,000. But the homes cost $275,000 to $285,000 to build.
"So there's a good 100 thousand dollar gap between what the buyer can afford and what it costs to build," Rosen said.
Part of that gap is covered by the Habitat store, which sells repurposed items and building supplies. Habitat says all revenue from the store goes toward building new homes.
The organization also runs a Critical Repair Program that helps existing homeowners with access improvements, health and safety repairs, and interior and exterior work.
How the program works
Habitat homes aren't giveaways. According to Habitat's program FAQ, buyers have to show a need for safe, affordable housing and be able to pay an affordable mortgage. Household income must fall between 30% and 80% of the area median income for Yakima County, based on federal guidelines.
Buyers also have to put in "sweat equity." After approval, each household must complete 500 hours, which can include working on their own home or other Habitat homes, taking homeownership classes, or volunteering at the Habitat store. The participant and their immediate household must do at least 175 of those hours themselves.
Habitat also runs background checks on all household members over 18 and pulls credit reports, though it says a criminal history doesn't automatically disqualify an applicant.
The process takes time. Habitat says it usually takes 12 to 24 months from application to move-in, and ideally construction on a family's home starts within six months of approval.
The homes are simple. Habitat says it typically builds two- to four-bedroom houses of about 900 to 1,500 square feet, generally wood-frame. Each comes with an electric range, microwave, refrigerator and dishwasher, along with washer and dryer hookups. Along with detached houses, Habitat also builds common-wall housing like duplexes or townhomes, and it plans to begin building smaller one- and two-bedroom homes.
Habitat is accepting applications for future builds. Applications can be picked up at the office at 21 W. Mead Ave., Suite 110, in Yakima, or downloaded online.
Why it matters for Contractors
Seven homes in a year won't change the Yakima County housing market on its own, and Habitat isn't claiming it will. But Rosen's numbers say a lot about what it costs to build here. Even a simple wood-frame home of 900 to 1,500 square feet, built with volunteer and sweat-equity labor, still runs $275,000 to $285,000.
That's a reminder of why entry-level housing is so hard to deliver. Habitat buyers put in hundreds of hours of sweat equity, and the store helps cover costs, and there is still a gap of about $100,000 per house. Anyone trying to build homes for buyers at that income level, nonprofit or private, is up against the same costs for land, materials and skilled labor.
There are ways for local contractors to get involved. Habitat says the store sells repurposed items and supplies, and every dollar it brings in goes back into building homes, so leftover materials from a job site can do some good. Contractors with skills to offer can also ask whether upcoming builds need help.
With builds planned in Yakima, Sunnyside and Wapato, and applications open for the next round of families, contractors across the valley have a chance to help. Call the Yakima office at 509-453-8077 to ask what the next builds need.