MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- A Web-based housing network designed for military personnel to search for housing at their next duty station was made available to station service members June 3, 2009.
Yuma joined the scores of other military towns already in the Automated Housing Referral Network, launched in June 2004 by the Department of Defense to help troops find housing through its Web site, www.ahrn.com.
Unlike the plethora of other real estate and rental property search engines on the Internet, this site factors in the service member’s basic allowance for housing and includes features which calculate the distance to the base and recommendations from a base’s military housing office.
“Whenever I went to look at apartments, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Lance Cpl. Brittney Garland, former renter. “If there was a Web site that showed all the features of an apartment in town, it would have made the whole search process a lot easier, especially if it takes into consideration your rank’s income.”
Local property managers and military housing managers for the air station and the Yuma Proving Ground attended a meeting in Yuma June 3, 2009, so Runzheimer International, the company contracted to manage the site, could teach them how to use the site.
“We had more than 20 property managers there,” said Mark Smith, station housing manager. “It went very well. They were very interested in the information and the site. They had a lot of good feedback.”
The site requires property managers to list their available housing, which will alleviate some work for the station housing office and should improve listing accuracy and timeliness.
Previously, local property managers would contact the station housing office and provide them with listings, said Cathy Harper, station assistant housing manager.
“We would print the listings out as Marines came in and asked for them, but property managers would forget to call us and tell us if the property was no longer available. It was a hassle,” Harper said.
Still, the housing office role plans to help oversee the site by making sure the listings’ availability, points of contact and e-mail addresses are accurate by communicating with the off-base property managers.
“We will review what the property managers submit,” said Smith. “It can be done on a daily basis, even though a lot of the listings we get are from property management companies that we’ve worked with in the past. There’s already a trust factor there.”
The site can also list properties for sale by owners who are service members or help them find a roommate under the shared rental option. Some of these features are not yet available for all areas, but the site is updated monthly.
Most Marine Corps installations are already registered on the site, including all the air stations in the continental U.S., Camp Pendleton, Calif., Camp Lejeune, N.C., Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C, Quantico, Va., both recruiting depots and Twentynine Palms, Calif.
A link on the site redirects Marines to a registration page where they will need to create a login user name and password after specifying an installation the housing is for. Once registered and after an e-mail confirmation, they can log on and search or list properties any time.
“It’s a trusted resource,” said Lisa Townsend, Runzheimer International representative. “This focuses specifically on military members.”