Athens Area Habitat for Humanity: Homeowners and Their Homes

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Athens Area Habitat for Humanity: Homeowners and Their Homes ATHENS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: HOMEOWNERS AND THEIR HOMES by STACY BROCK (Under the direction of Anne L. Sweaney) ABSTRACT This study created a description of 26 Athens Area Habitat for Humanity (AAHFH) homeowners. Interviews were conducted with the homeowners either at their home, in the AAHFH office, or over the telephone. The interviews showed that homeowners are generally satisfied with their Habitat homes and the components of the Habitat program. Additionally, it was shown that the Habitat homes are in good physical condition. The most important findings of the study are that homeowners are generally satisfied with their homes, the educational classes are important to the homeowners, and there are homeowners with mortgage delinquencies. As a component of this study a questionnaire was developed that can be used to test hypotheses about factors related to the success of a larger group of Habitat for Humanity homeowners. INDEX WORDS: Habitat for Humanity, Home ownership, Mortgage payments, Benefits and burdens of home ownership, Condition of homes, Low-Income households, Volunteer organizations ATHENS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: HOMEOWNERS AND THEIR HOMES by STACY BROCK A.B., The University of Georgia, 2000 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2002 ã 2002 Stacy Brock All Rights Reserved ATHENS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: HOMEOWNERS AND THEIR HOMES by STACY BROCK Approved: Major Professor: Anne Sweaney Committee: Deborah Godwin Gladys Shelton Electronic Version Approved: Gordham L. Patel Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2002 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my committee for their guidance in completing this thesis: Dr. Anne Sweaney, Dr. Gladys Shelton, Dr. Deborah Godwin, and Dr. Tom Rodgers. A special thanks to Dr. Sweaney for serving as my major professor. I would also like to express my gratitude to Alison and Lola Brock, Margaret Tyson, Ryan Stepler, and Kelly Manley for all your assistance in completing this process. Without the cooperation of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity this project would have been impossible. Thank you to Jennifer Abbott, Lee Hull, the Board of Directors, and especially the homeowners. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Habitat for Humanity International.....................................................................1 Habitat for Humanity in Athens..........................................................................3 Purpose................................................................................................................7 Objectives............................................................................................................8 Justification.........................................................................................................8 Limitations ........................................................................................................11 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................13 A Study of Habitat for Humanity in the United States .....................................13 Homeowner Characteristics ..............................................................................16 Individual Economic Benefits of Home Ownership.........................................21 Home Ownership and Satisfaction....................................................................25 Measures of Housing Satisfaction Among Low-Income Families ...................28 Costs of Home Ownership ................................................................................32 Summary...........................................................................................................33 3. METHODS ............................................................................................................35 v Research Design................................................................................................35 Internal Validity................................................................................................35 Sampling Plan...................................................................................................36 Contacting the Homeowners ............................................................................36 External Validity...............................................................................................39 The Measurement Instrument ...........................................................................39 Conducting the Interviews ................................................................................47 Analysis.............................................................................................................48 Impact................................................................................................................50 4. RESULTS ..............................................................................................................52 Physical Condition of the Homes .....................................................................53 Demographic Description of the Homeowners.................................................55 Homeowners’ Satisfaction with Homes............................................................59 Perceived Benefits and Burdens of Home Ownership......................................63 Participation and Satisfaction with Athens Area Habitat for Humanity...........64 Questions that Could Test Homeowner Success Hypotheses...........................67 Additional Homeowner Comments ..................................................................78 5. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION.........................................................................80 Physical Condition of Homes ...........................................................................81 Demographic Trends.........................................................................................82 Monthly Housing Payments..............................................................................84 Effects of Home Ownership..............................................................................85 Participation and Satisfaction with Athens Area Habitat for Humanity...........87 vi Contacting the Homeowners.............................................................................92 Changes to the Questionnaire ...........................................................................94 Future Use of the Questionnaire by AAHFH...................................................98 Wide-Scale Future Use of the Questionnaire....................................................99 Implications.....................................................................................................100 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................102 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................108 A HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TERMS .............................................................108 B HOMEOWNER QUESTIONNAIRE .................................................................110 C EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF HOMEONWER SURVEY..............................115 D REVISED HABITAT HOMEOWNER QUESTIONNAIRE.............................122 vii LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Athens Area Habitat for Humanity Income Eligibility Guidelines for 2002...........5 2. Habitat Affiliates Included in the HUD-Sponsored Study....................................15 3. Contacting and Interviewing the Homeowners.....................................................38 4. The Origins, Objectives, Constructs and Possible Hypotheses of Questions ........42 5. Demographics of AAHFH Homeowners...............................................................56 6. Frequencies of Satisfaction with AAHFH Homes.................................................60 7. How Homeowners Learned About AAHFH..........................................................65 8. AAHFH Education Classes....................................................................................68 9. Sweat Equity Hours Worked by Homeowners ......................................................70 10. AAHFH Monthly Housing Payments....................................................................74 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Today’s home ownership rate has reached an impressive 67.5 % of occupied homes. While most Americans have benefited from expanding housing opportunities, there are still people who for various reasons are unable to own a home. Today 13.7 million households have “critical housing needs,” meaning that they spend over one-half their income on housing or live in seriously substandard housing conditions. There are millions of families who need affordable housing to buy or rent, yet the number of affordable units is rapidly decreasing (National Association of Home Builders, 2001). Habitat for Humanity International is one organization that is working to meet the need for affordable housing.
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