Connecting prospective tenants seeking affordable rental housing to landlords and property managers with available units can be a daunting task without access to a centralized property database.  That is why Wisconsin Front Door Housing (WFDH), a Division of Housing and Community Development within the Bureau of Supportive Housing operating under the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, adopted a statewide data collection approach from the beginning.  Working under the guidance of Bowman Systems®, the state created a database designed to establish a direct link between those seeking affordable housing and those offering rental units.

“Our mission is to assure that every resident of Wisconsin is granted an opportunity to obtain affordable housing,” said Melisa Perez, Community Services Specialist for WFDH.  “If they don’t know properties are available to meet their needs, that opportunity can be lost.”

WFDH used HousingPoint to launch a statewide database in 2005. This project represented the first statewide application of the software and included all 72 counties in the state.  As a result, residents of Wisconsin in low to moderate income levels may locate affordable housing through an easy to use web portal: www.wifrontdoorhousing.org.

In addition to identifying available properties within a geographic area, the site also provides detailed information that helps the prospective tenant make a qualified selection which best meet individual and family needs. Landlords/Property Managers are able to provide detailed descriptions of available rental properties.  There is no charge to have the property listed as long as it is offered at a rental rate that corresponds with national Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines.

Perez says Landlords appreciate the statewide approach because they understand the benefit of providing people relocating to the area with the ability to research available properties in advance. “They also like that they can post pictures of the properties and upload documents, such as apartment applications and pet policies, which provide important information and speed up the rental process for everyone involved,” noted Perez.

Another feature Perez highlighted is Google Mapping.  “This feature allows someone looking for a unit to get a street level view that shows the neighborhood surrounding the available property to help determine whether it is a good match for his or her needs,” explained Perez.

Perez is hoping to further expand her organization’s use of HousingPoint when the next software upgrade is completed, and encourages others to consider a statewide approach.  “HousingPoint has been a great format for getting uniform data, and helping clients with placement; we really like the feature that allows you to save and reuse detailed searches” said Perez.  Perez also shared some steps that will help other communities be successful in implementing HousingPoint. “We allow properties to opt in or out because we want to make it easy to list with us and we remind landlords often about the exposure they receive at no charge. Remember that you will still have to call some of the less computer savvy property owners and help them keep their data current. It’s important to do an annual data cleanup to get rid of duplicates. Try to avoid including unsupported data because it’s often not up to date and is inaccurate.”

WFDH has also used the web portal to provide information on associated topics and concerns such as the use of lead paint.  “We added a section which required the landlords to state when the structure was built and whether it has been checked for lead,” added Perez.  “This is important because you want your site to be the ‘go to’ source for affordable rental housing in your state.”

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