Requirements & Qualifications

In order to qualify for Pensacola Habitat for Humanity’s Homebuyer Program, an applicant must demonstrate a need for housing, a willingness to partner with Pensacola Habitat, and the ability to pay for their future mortgage. Familiarizing yourself with the program’s requirements and qualifications now can help make you a more qualified candidate in the future, even if that means you’re not quite ready to apply right now.

In order to qualify for Pensacola Habitat for Humanity’s Homebuyer Program, an applicant must:

• be at least 18 years old.
• be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.
• be unmarried or married but not separated. (If married, your spouse must also apply jointly with you.)

Ability to Pay 

The ability for your family to afford your mortgage is essential to qualifying for a home built by Pensacola Habitat for Humanity. We want you to thrive and flourish in your new home and providing you an unaffordable mortgage would be bad for your family, the community and our organization.

For those reasons, to financially qualify for the Homebuyer Program:

• 2 years of stable, verifiable, documented income, including Social Security or other sources of income OR 2 years of stable, verifiable, documented part-time or self-employed income 
• Do not have excessive debt or multiple accounts in collection
• Have not had a bankruptcy or foreclosure finalized in the last 2 years (limit of 1)
• 640+ Credit Score: Pensacola Habitat for Humanity does evaluate credit history, but your credit DOES NOT need to be perfect. In fact, we work with families to improve credit and reduce debt. We encourage all applicants to pull their FREE credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com before applying so you are aware of your debts and what may be barriers to becoming pre-approved for the program.
• Minimum annual gross income as of February 2025 is $40,000. **This is for our traditional Homebuyer Program. Income requirements are different for our other home purchase programs like the Community Land Trust.

You may be eligible for our HUD Housing Counseling, which offers a customized action plan to help you learn how to manage your budget, pay off debt, understand credit and save for your home purchase.

The following info will help you decide if your YEARLY income is within Pensacola Habitat guidelines. (Maximum income guidelines are up to 80% of Area Median Income and based on family size. Minimum income must be over $40,000 yearly or $3,333 monthly. Income limits may change based on annual adjustment of HUD area median income.) See chart for maximum income levels.