Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando is opening up its latest affordable housing development to the public for an open house today.
59 homes will eventually be built at Butler’s Preserve in West Orlando.
Twelve of the homes are complete, and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando president and CEO Catherine Steck McManus said the rest will be finished by 2017.
“In addition to the families that have already moved in and will be celebrating the holidays in their new homes we have eleven homes already under construction," said McManus.
"So we’re going at a very quick pace because the need is so great.”
The homes are priced between $120,000 and $140,000, and buyers are given a no interest loan, provided they meet certain criteria.
Those criteria include being in an overcrowded or unaffordable living situation and being prepared to put in so-called sweat equity, which could mean working at a Habitat store or helping to build a house.
Butler’s Preserve is the second large scale Habitat For Humanity development in Orlando, after completing Staghorn Villas off Silverstar Road in 2013, and McManus said it won’t be the last.
She said there’s a real need in the city for affordable housing.
“And our hope is that our homeowners because they have a safe and affordable home, can go on and do more things: they can afford to pay for college, they have better healthcare when they are homeowners, their children perform better in schools.”