Frequently Asked Questions

Skagit Habitat Stores are a non-profit home improvement store and donation center that sells new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances to the public at a fraction of the retail price. Proceeds are used to support our partnerships with families & community in building strength, stability, and self reliance through homeownership.

Skagit Habitat provides a unique opportunity for hardworking individuals and families to help build and buy their own homes. We work closely with qualified individuals and families to build safe, permanent, and affordable homes in Skagit County.

People apply through our program and work through the application process with our Homebuyer Selection Committee. Once approved by the Board of Directors and accepted into the program, families will take classes and begin working their sweat equity.

Owning a Habitat home is often more cost-effective than renting. As a Habitat homeowner, you’ll not only buy a home, but you’ll gain the stability and security that comes with it and a strong foundation for generations to come. Habitat is also a permanent, not an immediate, housing solution. If you qualify for our home-ownership program, it typically takes two years from the time you qualify to the time your house is completed.

We build in Skagit County only.

Partners such as volunteers, donors, and sponsors are imperative in our work to eliminate substandard housing in our community. Donors, sponsors and in-kind services/materials provide the funds to buy needed land, materials, and tools. Volunteers provide labor, which helps us keep costs down - and hopes up.

Every home constructed by Skagit Habitat is modest, affordable and energy-efficient. The home is to be used solely as a primary residence and may not be subleased (no rentals). The design is determined by the land size, municipality regulations, surrounding homes in the neighborhood and any covenants it may have. Most homes are less than 1,200 square feet. We build for the needs, not the wants of the buyer.

At Habitat for Humanity, sweat equity is a new homeowner investing in their home or one for another family. It’s not a form of payment, but an opportunity to work alongside volunteers who give their time to bring to life a family’s dream of owning a home. It is a term for partnering with us to help build your home and further Habitat’s mission.

Sweat equity is the ownership interest that is created as a direct result of hard work by the owner(s), ‘contribution to a project or enterprise in the form of effort and toil’ … It is a mode of building equity for cash - strapped future homeowners, since they are unable to contribute a down payment for a conventional loan.

Skagit Habitat relies on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, the faith community and some government funding, all to help defray the high cost infrastructure, land and building materials. Mortgage payments are used to support our home building efforts as well as proceeds from the Skagit Habitat Store. We do not rely on any one source of revenue. If you would like to make a donation please press the donate button.