How to find housing if you were impacted by the tornado

ELKHORN, Neb. (KMTV) — Many of our neighbors have to find new places to stay because damage to their homes is either extreme or total. We spoke to a housing developer who has some advice when looking for temporary housing.

• Spencer Lombardo with Pure Property Management is working his contacts to try and connect storm victims with open homes.
• "Homes are hard to find right now. A lot of them were already leased within the first 48 hours after the tornado. You can look on Zillow.com, you can look on Realtor.com for homes. After you've run out of home options there are some town homes available."
• Spencer says families might have to start looking towards Gretna and Papillion as housing in Elkhorn is running out.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Many of our neighbors have to find new places to stay because the damage to their homes is either extreme or total… In Elkhorn, 3 News Now is figuring out what options are left for those who need short- and long-term housing.

"Right now, we don't know what is going to happen…"

After living in her house for almost 35 years, Gail Christensen's home is now gone.

"It was just devastating,” she said.

Staying at a hotel now, but unsure how long, like so many others all now looking for a new place to live.

Housing developer, Spencer Lombardo is working his contacts to try to connect storm victims with open homes.

"I'm calling on home builders who have inventory particularly in the $300,00, $400,000, $500,000 price range because that's where the need is the biggest need. Put them on Zillow.com. Let's get some more inventory on the market because families need homes,” he said.

And listings are going fast.

"Homes are hard to find right now. A lot of them were already leased within the first 48 hours after the tornado. You can look on Zillow.com, you can look on Realtor.com for homes. After you've run out of home options there are some town homes available."

It's an option Marcia Nelsen is looking at.

"I don't know if I'll rebuild or since I'm getting older and I have a huge yard maybe I'll go to a duplex or a townhouse, so I don't have to maintain all that anymore,” said Nelsen.

With rental homes mostly leased out in Northwest Omaha, Spencer says it'll be a challenge for those with kids, especially.

"I think that's when people are going to have to come out to Gretna or Papillion and start to look a little outside of Elkhorn and maybe have to drive 20 to school while home is being rebuilt unfortunately."

And Spencer tells us, don't wait for your insurance company to start looking for you.

"Well, these are people that are not from here that don't know we have a shortage of housing, and they may not be able to find some things,” he said.

If you are looking for rental options, Spencer also says to be wary of scammers make sure to talk to the person leasing the home on the phone, meet them at the house or apartment for a showing first, and if they pressure you to give them a deposit, it's probably a scammer.