Florida Housing’s Online Housing Locator Helping Floridians Find Affordable Rental Housing
TALLAHASSEE, FL – October 13, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Reports recently received by Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) show a significant increase in the number Floridians finding affordable rental housing using www.FloridaHousingSearch.org, which is the Corporation’s FREE online rental housing locator. According to the data in the report, provided by Socialserve.com®, 39 percent of the rented units on the state’s Search.org affordable rental housing locator were located by consumers using www.Floridahousingsearch.org or the Locator’s call-center.
“Florida Housing is pleased with the findings of the report on the effectiveness of the Locator,” said Steve Auger, Florida Housing’s executive director. “This report illustrates that we are, in fact, helping Floridians find affordable rental housing using this ‘one-stop shop’ during these uncertain economic times.”
In addition, as of August, more than 130,000 affordable rental units statewide were registered on the site; of those registered units, approximately 11 percent are listed as “Available” or on a “Short waitlist.” The goal is to have 150,000 units registered by the end of the year.
FloridaHousingSearch.org is a free, web-based rental housing locator service designed to link people with safe, decent affordable and available rental housing throughout Florida.
The site allows landlords, including providers of critically needed supportive and special needs housing, to advertise their properties FREE of charge, while helping renters to easily find properties that fits their needs.
Through a partnership with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, FloridaHousingSearch.org also includes a separate search engine for locating assisted-living facilities and adult family-care homes.
This service is particularly helpful during these tough economic times, but also in planning ahead to serve displaced persons during other crises, such as natural disasters.
Landlords of all private and publicly funded properties statewide are eligible to list rental units that are affordable for households that earn up to 120 percent of the average area median income (AMI) where the units are located in the state.
For more information on FloridaHousingSearch.org, please visit www.floridahousingsearch.org. You may also call Socialserve.com at 1-(877) 428-8844.
Contact:
Cecka Rose Green (850) 488-4197
