Aviano Airmen have new Housing Office support online

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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  A new advantage in house-hunting has recently become available to Airmen moving into or out of Aviano.

The Aviano Housing Office, in conjunction with U.S. Air Forces in Europe housing offices, has implemented the new Internet-based Automated Housing Referral Network, AHRN.com, to facilitate the long-distance house-hunting process encountered during a permanent-change-of-station.

AHRN.com is a joint service, Department of Defense-sponsored Web site that offers a 24/7/365 source of available housing to incoming military members. It directly connects service members with local property managers via the Internet, potentially saving time and money, while reducing headaches.

"This housing referral network is a quantum leap forward from the process we used in our office and the word-of-mouth (sponsor) method," said Lani Waikiki, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron Asset Management Flight chief. "Through the internet, incoming military members and their families are able to reach out from anywhere and get an updated list of available housing, from a much larger pool of diverse properties that will be available upon their arrival."

The idea behind the free site is that local property managers and military members register on the site to list or search available properties, in many cases several months before the property will be available. These properties are then easily viewed by incoming personnel when they search the site for available housing.

The Aviano Housing Office is looking forward to expanding its AHRN.com program by encouraging local property managers to register in the system, Ms. Waikiki added.

"The larger the database, the more helpful it will be to people searching for housing," she said.

AHRN.com incorporates several layers of privacy protection to ease concerns about registering properties.

Property owners also benefit by having a consistent resource of quality tenants.

"It's a win-win for everyone," said Ms. Waikiki.

The Web site is available to all service members and DoD civilians who are supported by the Aviano Housing Office.

For more information about the AHRN.com Web site, contact Antonio Saponaro, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron Facilities chief, at 632-2510 or visit www.ahrn.com to list your property or search for one.