Public House builds efficient and secure online tools to help us address the ever-growing need for workforce housing. Franklin Joyce (Electric Baby) and his team have worked with more than 25 HomeKeeper users to date! In 2012, HomeKeeper asked Public House to build an online application using a popular form tool. Ultimately, digging into the complexity of affordable housing applications set them on the path of designing a system from the ground up.
What does it do?
Public House is a comprehensive application management system that has quickly become an essential tool for housing organizations of all types and sizes. Public House provides the infrastructure that small 1-2 person teams need to process applications online. Larger teams can collaborate to scale up their efficiency to handle large applicant volumes.
What are the main features of the product?
Public House’s compatibility with HomeKeeper is our favorite feature – a pattern you may have noticed throughout our blogs. All applicant data lives exclusively in the HomeKeeper data structures you are already working with. Supporting documents go straight to your preferred cloud storage.
Public House has accomplished something we weren’t sure was possible – independently completed applications. Intuitive design, visual guides and helpful texts enable applicants to independently navigate completing each form, uploading their supporting documents, agreeing to terms, digitally signing, and paying application fees – all before the staff has lifted a finger. This is not to say that applicants don’t still leave out assets or upload the wrong documents, but Public House provides the tools to easily manage this too. They’ve even built in an automated system of recurring email and SMS reminders for the various deadlines in the process to keep applicants on task.
Public House has a clean and accessible interface, especially considering all the features packed into it. The application dashboard consolidates a Service File’s many related records, individual and household roll-ups and warning flags all in one view. Completed applications show up on your dashboard ready for document review. Documents are queued up for review and staff has everything at their fingertips to click through this in a snap. To put a bow on it, Public House creates a final Archive PDF that combines the application data and all the supporting documents and tucks the mammoth file neatly away into your preferred cloud storage. Bring on the audit!
In short, they’ve thought of most everything and if you don’t see it, trust they are working on it. For example, Public House has waitlist/lottery/preference management tools in testing with select clients and are launching early in 2022. They say it’s all about the short list: For any housing opportunity, the goal is to use the fewest organizational resources to produce a shortlist of qualified applicants, who have confirmed their interest in the property. There is deep attention to detail throughout the application that is clearly informed by their active network of City/County Housing Authorities, Habitats, CLTs, affordable housing administrators and apartment holding companies.
How much does it cost?
Public House pricing is based on active applicants in the system. A 6-week implementation will get your organization up and running. The annual cost of $5,000 includes 250 applicants, with additional applicants billed at $20 each. Find full pricing details here.
Want more information?
Visit the Public House Website
Check out Public House Support