FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact Patricia M. Smith

Director of Public Affairs, Tennessee Housing Development Agency

(615) 815-2185

 

Nashville, Tenn. (June 2008) – Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) has just launched an exciting, new consumer web site – TNHousingSearch.org – to help Tennessee families find homes fast.

TNHousingSearch.org is a FREE, statewide rental housing resource giving landlords, property owners and consumers the ability to access real-time rental housing information in their local area and for all 95 counties in Tennessee. Families can now search one central web site portal to find rental homes, duplexes and apartments across the state by city, county, ZIP Code and more. Other user-friendly features include Resident Tools to help calculate monthly rent budgets and costs associated with moving.

For families looking for housing, using TNHousingSearch.org can save gas, time and money because now they can search online, anytime 24 hours a day and get the latest up-to-date information. Consumers without internet access can call toll-free at 1.877.428.8844 to receive the same listings in English or Spanish. The site also provides special listing information and support for nonprofit agencies and associations seeking housing for persons with disabilities or special needs.

TNHousingSearch.org was also designed as a valuable online resource to help displaced families quickly find housing in case of an emergency. THDA, site sponsor, is working with organizations such as the American Red Cross, 2-1-1, and TEMA, so the site can support relocation efforts for families who need shelter quickly, due to natural disasters or other emergencies that may arise.

“Since the site’s initial launch to landlords and property owners to list their rental homes, apartments, single family homes and duplexes on TNHousingSearch.org, we have received tremendous response,” says THDA’s Executive Director, Ted R. Fellman. “The database currently houses over 25,000 properties across Tennessee, and we are pleased to see more than 15,000+ unique visitors a month and that number continues to increase.”

For landlord and property owners, TNHousingSearch.org offers free listings and there are no advertising deadlines to meet or strict size limitations. And once a property is listed, it remains in the database until the property owner deletes it. Because the listings and searches are FREE, landlords and property managers are encouraged to log on and take advantage of the limitless exposure, as well as connect with the numerous visitors who are searching for a home in Tennessee.
“I’m really excited about this service because I can get the word out about my property to a lot more people now, and at no cost!” says one Clarksville landlord. “I’m reaching a much larger audience than I could ever reach without your help. The true beauty of it is that we’re helping people.”

For more information about TNHousingSearch.org, call THDA’s Chief Strategy Officer Lorrie Shearon at 615-815-2013.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) is a political subdivision of the State of Tennessee. THDA is the state’s housing finance agency, responsible for selling tax exempt mortgage revenue bonds to offer affordable mortgage funds to homebuyers of low and moderate incomes through local lenders, and to administer various housing programs targeted to very low-, low- and moderate-income households.

THDA was established in 1973, making its first mortgage in 1974. Since then, it has provided affordable fixed rate mortgages to over 96,000 households without using state tax dollars and issues between $250 and $300 million in mortgage revenue bonds annually for its first-time homebuyer program.

In the year 2007, THDA created the Tennessee Housing Trust Fund using state, THDA and locally-generated funds to match support programs for the very-low income, elderly and special needs populations.
More information about THDA is available on-line at www.THDA.org.