Habitat for Humanity of Bowling Green/Warren County (HFHBGWC) is building homes and looking for partner families interested in our homeownership program.
If you are interested in our homeownership program, please review the general program information below and click the button to "Complete Homeowner Interest Form."
This form introduces you to your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and, upon completion, will provide you with information about our next homeowner informational session.
Application Requirements
- You must be a first-time homeowner.
- You must be a Legal Permanent Resident or Citizen of the United States.
- You must have lived or worked in Warren County for the previous 12 months. Affiliates for other areas can be found at habitat.org.
- Your household yearly income must fall within our income guidelines, which are adjusted for family size. Income includes wages, Social Security, disability, SSI, alimony, and child support that is received by any household member.
- You must have one year of continuous income.
- You must have a reasonably good credit history with a minimum mid-credit score of 600.
- NOTE: HFHBGWC policies will not allow the approval of an application for any of the following:
- Bankruptcy within the last 18 months (must be 18 months from date of discharge).
- No more than $3,000 in uncollected, past due bad debt, such as collections, charge-offs, liens, repossessions, etc.
- Example: If a credit card has a $3,000 balance and payments are current, this is not considered a “bad” debt. However, if the credit card is in default and is in collection this would be considered a “bad” debt.
- Bad debt under $3,000 must be paid off prior to closing.
General Program Information
Applications are considered on a first come, first served basis. Once all homes have approved partner families the application window will close. Application approval process is built around three policies:
Ability to Pay
- Habitat homes are not free but come with an affordable mortgage with estimated monthly payments not to exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. There will also be an ESTIMATED $2,500 in closing costs. Closing costs may be more or less than this estimate.
Willingness to Partner
- Each approved applicant agrees to:
- Attend one Homeowner Interest session.
- Provide 150 hours of Homeowner In Progress (HIP) hours per adult, not exceeding 2 (300 hrs). The work will be completed on your home and on the homes of other Habitat partner families. ALL hours are to be completed before you can move into your home.
- Participate in workshops and financial coaching.
- Participate in other family support meetings and keep HFHBGWC informed with your current information.
- Willingness to live where HFHBGWC has available properties.
Need for Adequate Shelter
- HFHBGWC believes that everyone deserves a decent place to live. As stated above, you are not applying for a specific home or address, but the opportunity to partner with HFHBGWC to become a homeowner. To that end, we prioritize the need for adequate housing when evaluating applicants’ current living conditions. The need for adequate housing can range from overcrowding, cost burden, or substandard housing conditions. During the selection process, members of the family selection committee will schedule a meeting to do a housing evaluation with you.
Additional Resources
Printable Homeowner Interest Form - Completing these forms online isn't always the preferred method, this link is to a printable form which can be remitted to our PO Box 1115, Bowling Green, KY, 42102.
Application Process Diagram - This is a step by step overview of our application process and our program process.
Income Guidelines - Income guidelines are based on number of people in the household.
Debt to Income Worksheet Tool - This tool is helpful for better understanding a monthly financial picture of debt and income, this particular tool is discussed in detail at our information/application session.
Annual Free Credit Report - In assessing financial position, we like to remind everyone that you can access one free credit report annually, the link will direct you to annualfreecreditreport.com where you can request a free credit report.
