Phone Responses Collected by Military Housing Officers

HOMES.mil – Getting Started Conversations

The following is a sample telephone script for a Military Housing Office (MHO) helping a Property Manager (PM) create an account and add a listing to HOMES.mil.

MHO: Thank you for calling the Housing Service Center, how can I assist you today?

PM: Hello, I got the number your office from the website and have questions regarding your HOMES.mil listing service. I am a listing agent for Lakeside apartments which isn’t located far from your base and I’m interested in listing my property with the Housing office for Service Members. Can you help me understand how to do this?

MHO: Of course. HOMES.mil is an official Department of Defense website that allows Service Members to review thousands of property listings near their installation and work with their local housing office to make sure they find a home that fits their needs. The service is free to use and gives your listings visibility to hundreds of local Service Members when they search for listings in that zip code.

PM: So this is an official DoD site that lets me offer my property to all of the local Service Members around Hampton Roads, and it doesn’t cost me anything to use?

MHO: That is correct. The site is dedicated to helping Service Members, families, and DoD civilians find housing.

PM: That sounds great. How do I go about getting my property listed on HOMES.mil?

MHO: It’s a very simple process. Visit the HOMES.mil site from any internet-connected device, accept the disclosure and consent statement, and select the “Create Account” link in the upper right-hand corner. Make sure to select the Property Manager tab instead of the Service Member tab, and complete the fields as directed.

PM: I’m looking at the site right now. I’ve selected Property Manager, and filled in my information, including the installation site closest to the property I’d like to list. Is there anything else I’ll need to do?

MHO: Make sure your password meets the security requirements outlined in the Password Policy marked by an “i”. Read the Terms and Conditions and if you agree check the approval box, and click Register to complete the process. Once finished, you will receive an email from HOMES.mil to confirm your registration. Click the link provided in the email to verify your account.

PM: Alright, I’ve completed my registration, clicked the link provided in my email, and have now logged in with my credentials. I see a message indicating that my account is pending approval, what’s next?

MHO: You will need to add at least one property before your account can be considered for approval. I’ll provide a few hints for the process. In the middle right-hand side of your screen, you will see a button that says “Add Property Listing”. Click that link to continue to the page which asks for your property information. It is important to start by clicking the magnifying glass icon to the right of the “City” field first in order to generate the proper nearby installations based on the zip code entered.

PM: Ok, I’ve followed the prompts, entered my city, and selected the installation nearby that I’d like my account associated with. Should I continue filling in the property information?

MHO: Yes, once all required information is entered and saved your “Listing ID” will be generated. From there, we will review your pending listing to assure that it is appropriate for the website. We may schedule an in-person inspection of your properties. Listings with recent photos attract more Service Members than listings without photos.

PM: That sounds great. You have been very helpful. I will work on my listings and call again if I run into problems.

MHO: Glad I was able to help you today. Feel free to call us with any questions you may have. If you encounter technical issues with the website, you can reach out to HOMES.mil Support using the Contact button on the bottom of the website.

PM: Thank you for your help. I’m glad to know I’m able to offer my property to our local Service Members.

MHO: Thank you for offering your property, and we look forward to working with you

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