With the average cost of a home in Union County approaching $200,000 finding an affordable place to live can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

To make the effort easier, a website, www.socialserve.com, was unveiled this week which will list rental property listings throughout Union County. The socialserve.com website is the first of its kind in the country to place low income families into affordable rental housing.

"We see a need every week of people who need affordable housing," said Margaret Griffin, director of Monroe Housing Authority.

Socialserve.com was initially developed in 1999 as a program of Non-Profit Industries, a Charlotte-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of affordable software solutions addressing a wide variety of community needs. Within three years, the Charlotte site has grown from 125 listings to an average of 1,700. Socialserve.com has expanded into Kansas City, St. Louis and will add Denver in the upcoming weeks.

By entering a desired rent range, the number of bedrooms and requirements for community amenities, such as access to public transportation, house hunters will receive a current listing of available properties that meet their criteria. Users may browse property listings and photos, view rental rates and fees.

"This is one stop shopping," said Monroe Mayor Judy Davis. "It is user friendly. I was impressed by the wealth of information available."

The site was the first of its kind in the country to include affordable rental housing listings in both English and Spanish.

"People of all walks of life will be able to use this service to locate safe, decent and affordable housing--from young professionals to single parents and retirees," said County Manager Mike Shalati.

In addition to its rental housing database, Socialserve.com provides other useful tools and services to property providers and those seeking rental properties. Real estate professionals who have properties to rent may access real-time statistics, enabling them to run neighborhood comparable and determine the length of vacancies. Renters can figure the approximate cost of moving or how much rent they can afford.

"Families who may have spent countless hours and transportation costs pounding the pavement to find decent rental housing can now search the web through one comprehensive database that incorporates their unique housing needs," said Van Gottel, founder and executive director of Socialserve.com.

Copyright 2003 The Enquirer Journal