Start Searching Low-Income Housing With This

Do a standard search for apartments and homes for rent in your area, and you might come to this conclusion: Everything’s expensive. If this has been your experience, don’t get down, as there’s an easy way to find affordable housing, and it’s on the Internet.

Finding Section 8 Housing With the HUD Resource Locator

The government’s Section 8 or Housing Choice Voucher Program is famous for one very good reason: It can make rent affordable. Qualify for the program, and you’ll only have to spend 30 percent of your income towards rent, with the government picking up the rest. What can you do with the income you have left over? Use it to pay other bills, build an emergency fund, or do whatever you please.

Unless you’ve dealt with Section 8 housing before, you may not know where to find it. This could keep it a mystery to you, and it could prevent you from applying for Section 8 to finally make rent affordable.

You don’t have to be already approved for Section 8 to start searching for properties that participate in the program. You can use the HUD’s Resource Locator Tool to find properties now so you can learn more about them and figure out if they’d be a good fit in the future.

Using the HUD Resource Locator

While we won’t get into how to apply for Section 8 in this article, you can begin the process by contacting your local public housing agency (PHA). They can run you through what’s needed to qualify for Section 8 subsidized housing, such as specific income limits, citizenship requirements, and more.

For now, let’s focus on the HUD Resource Locator, which you can find by clicking here. Once you click the link, you’ll notice a map.

On top of the map is a menu. It has various useful options, including how to find a HUD office or PHA near you, homeless resources, and more. To find Section 8 housing, click on the first menu option, which is “Find Affordable Housing Opportunities Near Me.”

The next screen should showcase a map of your area or whatever address you entered at the top of the page. You’ll see icons for different affordable housing resources. To find out more about each, click on the icon once.

After clicking on the icon, you’ll learn more specifics, such as who manages it, the contact information, and a description of which government program the property is linked to. It could be a Section 202 property, which focuses on people over 62 years of age. It could be a subsidized housing unit where you pay 30 percent of your income towards rent, or a low-income housing tax credit property.

Regardless of what the property is, try to visit it in person or call to find out more. By doing so, you can see that affordable housing near you is a reality. Once you feel like Section 8 properties could fit your needs, begin the application process by getting in touch with your PHA. Do so as quickly as possible, as Section 8 is known for having long waiting lists.