Attorney James Anderson Jr., noting that he worked on the first Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga house built here in 1986, said the cost has risen from about $30,000 in the early days to close to $50,000 now.

Speaking at the dinner meeting of the Signal Mountain Lions Club, he said, over the years Habitat has built some180 homes and in the past 18 years there have been only three foreclosures.

The attorney, who serves as legal counsel for Habitat, said potential homeowners are selected under strict guidelines that set up both the maximum income a person can have and qualify as well as requiring that the future homeowner must have a $1,000 a month income and be able to afford to live in a Habitat house and pay the expenses.

The prospective buyer, he told the Lions, must have a 2-year stable employment history, 2-year stable rent history and good credit. Other requirements include accumulating an $1,800 down payment and debt to income ratio not more than 28 percent. The new homeowner must contribute 300 hours of “sweat equity” to help with construction of Habitat homes, about 20 hours per month.

Subcontractors put in the foundation, electrical and plumbing fixtures, sheetrock and roofing. Volunteers donate their time to the other construction, flooring, painting, siding, erecting the framing and other tasks. Between the volunteer labor and materials that may be donated, this keeps the cost down.

Mr. Anderson said, “We want to build good houses and both the material and construction of Habitat houses are outstanding.” Since there are standardized designs for the houses, walls are built in the large Habitat warehouse, numbered and stacked and when time comes to erect the house, they are loaded on a truck and taken to the site.

Habitat works with the potential buyers preparing to become homeowners and after they get into the house, work with them, teaching them how to do the maintenance on the house. The new owner pays the mortgage and taxes like any other homeowner.

Homes are mostly three bedroom with about 1,150 square feet but may be somewhat larger.

Habitat currently is developing Shepherd Park near the airport and has built about 20 homes in the community. There will be about 36 when it is finished and it will be a “first class subdivision.”

The mission of Habitat, he said, is to manifest God’s love by building simple and affordable housing in partnership with low income families presently living in substandard housing who otherwise would be unable to have the physical and spiritual benefits of such ownership.

Whenever possible, he continued, Habitat uses volunteer labor, contributions and donated materials to build simple, decent housing. Each house is occupied by a carefully selected family who buys the house through a no-interest loan.

All loan payments, he said, are put to work building more Habitat houses through the Revolving Fund for Habitat.