ASHEVILLE - When Van Gottel was a counselor to homeless people a few years ago in Charlotte, he thought someone ought to make it easier to find affordable rental housing for his clients. Advertisements were not always up-to-date, not all openings were advertised and clients often spent large amounts of time traipsing from place to place because there was no comprehensive source of rental market information.
| Gottel and a friend ended up being the "someones" with a solution. They developed a Web site called Socialserve.com that allows property owners to post rental openings and people seeking housing or those working with them to search the resulting database of available units online. A section of the site with listings in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties went live Tuesday, several local officials announced at a press conference. The nonprofit service, which also includes a toll-free telephone number, is free for users and property owners. It is limited to housing with rents less than certain limits. The city of Asheville, Buncombe County, home mortgage financier Fannie Mae, Land-of-Sky Regional Council and Western North Carolina Housing Partnership are putting up the $10,000 it will cost for the first year. |
Gottel said the service has dramatically simplified the process of finding an affordable place to live in other areas and predicted the same results here. "People definitely find better, safe, decent affordable housing when they have a central resource to see the entire market," he said.
Tawnya Watts, rental educator at the Affordable Housing Coalition of Asheville & Buncombe County, has already spent some time on the site. "It's going to be great," Watts said. "We will use it." The coalition has a renter's guide with information and works with prospective renters to target properties, but still, "it's kind of hit and miss," she said.
People looking for housing "do spend a lot of time chasing down leads that don't pan out," Watts said.
Contact Barrett at 232-5833 or MBarrett@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.
