Habitat for Humanity Knox County works to provide safe, affordable, housing options for families in Knox County Illinois. When you become a Habitat family you become more than a homeowner you join a partnership that exists to build homes, community, and hope until the day when everyone has a decent place to live.
Family Type
Habitat Knox County homes can accommodate families of one person up to families of eight people. We understand that there are many types of families. Whether you are an individual applying alone, a married couple with children, a single parent, a non-married couple, or a family that includes aunts, uncles, or parents, we welcome your family to apply. Married couples are required to apply together.
U.S. Citizenship
All family members must be U.S. Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents. A United States passport, birth certificate or Green Card is required to purchase a Habitat home.
Knox County of Illinois Resident
Habitat Knox County Illinois builds homes in Knox County, Illinois. In order to qualify for the program, you must have lived or worked in Knox County for the past six months.
Need for Housing
Habitat for Humanity envisions “a world where everyone has a decent place to live.” To achieve this goal, Habitat is committed to serving families that have a need for housing. We partner with families whose housing needs are expressed in a variety of ways. Here are some examples of needs for housing:
- You are living in temporary housing or are currently unhoused.
- You are paying more than 30% of your monthly income towards rent and utilities.
- There is crime in your neighborhood that makes you feel unsafe.
- There are structural problems where you are living (example: roof or walls are deteriorating).
- There are problems with your utilities (example: heating or cooling not adequate).
- There are pests in the house (example: mice or roaches).
- The space is overcrowded (example: there are many people living in one room).
- Your current housing is not equipped for handicap needs.
- If you currently own a home (including a trailer home), you are not eligible to buy a Habitat home. However, you do not need to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for a Habitat home.
Willingness to Partner
At Habitat for Humanity, partnership is very important to us. Habitat builds homes in partnership with our communities, companies, other non-profits, local government, and homebuyers. Families that are selected for our Homeownership Program become our Partner Families. Partner families must complete sweat equity hours before they can move into their house.
Ability to Pay
Income Requirements
Habitat Knox County seeks to help low-income families become homeowners. In order to assure that the loan will not be a financial burden and can be paid off in 30 years or less, each home has minimum and maximum income requirements. We look at the family’s gross monthly income, considering everyone over the age of 18 in the household. We count income from job wages, child support, alimony, food stamps, Social Security Survival benefits, SSDI, SSI, and TANF.
Each home is priced individually and has specific minimum and maximum income qualifications. Families whose monthly income is not within the income qualification range will not qualify.
Credit Check
Habitat will conduct a credit check. We are checking for debts, collections, open judgments, or recent bankruptcies/foreclosures. This step is taken because we don’t want to put families that are already in debt further into debt with a home mortgage. Families who have had bankruptcies or foreclosures must have been discharged for 2 years before applying.
