For first time homebuyers, navigating the financial ins-and-outs of purchasing property can seem daunting. To help make the process easier, Fort Knox Federal Credit Union and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) in Cincinnati teamed up to help two first-timers secure their respective homes.
Both Loren Green and Tamyra Cox were in the market to purchase their respective first houses and both applied for mortgages through Fort Knox Federal. While taking slightly different paths, both qualified for a $5,000 grant, guaranteed by FHLB, towards the down payment and closing costs for their respective first homes.
The key to securing the FHLB grants was working with Fort Knox Federal’s experienced mortgage lenders. “The first person to mention the FHLB grant to me was Joe Lawrence (Dixie Branch Assistant Manager),” Green said. Once his Credit Union mortgage application process started, “Rebecca (Craig, Mortgage Loan Processor) told me about an online home counseling course that covered debt to equity; current financial situation; and, do (I) have enough down payment,” he added.
After that, “Rebecca took care of paper work and submitted the (FHLB) application,” Green said. The $5,000 grant he received paid for closing costs and part of the 20 percent down payment on his new house.
Green said after paying more than $30,000 in rent since leaving college, he was ready to start earning equity in a home of his own and Fort Knox Federal, along with the FHLB grant, helped make that possible. Green, an agriculture teacher at South Warren High School in Bowling Green, closed on his new home at the end of March 2017.
For Tamyra Cox, the journey to home ownership was a little different. She was also in the process of applying for a Fort Knox Federal mortgage prior to shopping for a house when she learned about the FHLB grant from Rebecca Craig in the mortgage department.
“Rebecca told me about the grant and handled the paper work for my application. The process was not difficult because Rebecca handled the administrative part of the application,” said Cox, who was re-entering the housing market on her own after a long absence.
“The Credit Union made the made the mortgage application process easy. It could not have been smoother—I loved the process,” she added.
Her FHLB grant paid for all her closing costs and applied $4,000 towards her down payment. Cox, a longtime credit union member, came to Fort Knox Federal for her mortgage because of the low rates, she said. Prior to her mortgage, she had three auto loans over the years with Fort Knox Federal.
She closed on her new home in Hustonville in Lincoln County, KY, and moved in at the end of April.
FHLB established the ‘Welcome Home’ grants with Affordable Housing Program funds to encourage homeownership. The grants are available to assist low- and moderate-income homebuyers to pay for down payments and reasonable closing costs incurred in buying their first house.
The grants are limited to $5,000 per homebuyer and are subject to an aggregate limit of $200,000 per offering to each Federal Reserve member financial institution on a “first-come, first-served” basis.
Fort Knox Federal and FHLB have been helping new homeowners like Green and Cox realize their dream of a new home for many years.
Created by Congress in 1932 to provide access to housing finance during the Great Depression, the FHLB in Cincinnati continues to play an important role in making housing affordable throughout Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
FHLB offers a range of flexible programs to help member financial institutions, like Fort Knox Federal and other housing partners, build strong communities by helping individuals purchase single-family housing as well as helping communities through economic development initiatives, community infrastructure and job creation.
Fort Knox Federal, founded in 1950, now serves 95,000 members and operates 16 branches throughout central Kentucky with newest branch currently under construction in Bowling Green, KY. Other Fort Knox Federal branches are conveniently located in Bardstown, Brandenburg, Campbellsville, Danville, Elizabethtown, Fort Knox, Hodgenville, Leitchfield, Radcliff, Sheperdsville and Valley Station.
Fort Knox Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial service cooperative and is insured by NCUA for individual deposits up to $250,000 per share account with unlimited insurance coverage on checking accounts.