Find your next home among people you can trust.
GovHomes is the members-only rental marketplace where federal employees and U.S. service members rent to each other — near bases, agency hubs, and duty stations, with the security posture the mission deserves.
Free to join. All you need is a .gov or .mil email address.
Emails encrypted at rest
AES-256-GCM — we never store a raw address
Federally vetted peers
Every member verified by .gov or .mil email
Built for PCS timelines
Search by duty station, move fast, no fees
Why GovHomes?
A members-only marketplace built exclusively for federal employees and members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Whether you're PCSing, relocating for a new assignment, or renting out a property you can't be there to manage, you're dealing with verified peers who understand mission-driven schedules and share the same values of service and integrity.
Verified Properties
Every listing comes from a verified source, tailored to government employees relocating for duty.
Secure Messaging
Reach owners, property managers, and agents inside the platform — your email address never changes hands.
Map-Based Search
Find homes near your base, agency hub, or duty station with an interactive map built for the search.
How GovHomes Works
From sign-up to move-in, in three simple steps.
Register with your .gov or .mil email
Free to join. Your federal or military address confirms you belong to a trusted, vetted community — then it's encrypted at rest.
Browse or list verified homes
Search homes near your base, agency hub, or duty station — or list your own property in minutes.
Connect and rent securely
Message vetted peers and rent with confidence through secure, in-platform communication.
Looking for a home?
Whether you're PCSing or relocating for a new assignment, browse verified homes near bases, agency hubs, and duty stations — listed by peers who understand military and federal life.
Have a property to rent?
List your property and rent exclusively to a trusted source — verified federal employees and service members who share your values of service and integrity.
Your email is encrypted. We never store the raw address.
Registering with a .gov or .mil address shouldn't mean handing it over in plaintext. On GovHomes every member email is encrypted with authenticated AES-256 before it is ever written to disk. The database holds ciphertext and nothing else — a stolen backup or a leaked database dump yields unreadable envelopes, not a roster of federal employees and service members.
What lands in the database
You type
jane.doe@agency.gov
We store
{"p":"Ux9tK2vQ…","h":{"iv":"…","at":"…"}}
Authenticated AES-256 encryption
Addresses are sealed with AES-256-GCM, so ciphertext that has been tampered with fails to open rather than being quietly trusted.
Keys never live in the database
Encryption keys are held in protected application configuration — never in the database, never in the source repository. The dump alone decrypts to nothing.
Strict mode — no plaintext fallback
The platform runs with unencrypted-data support switched off. There is no legacy code path that will read a raw address; an unencrypted value is rejected, not silently accepted.
Kept out of logs, hidden from members
Addresses are deliberately kept out of application logs and error reports, and no other member ever sees yours — every conversation happens inside the platform.
Straight talk about the boundary
Encryption at rest protects your address where it is most likely to be exposed: stolen backups, leaked dumps, and read-only database breaches. It is not a claim that no system can ever read your address — GovHomes decrypts it to send you mail, and any platform telling you otherwise while still emailing you is overselling. What we commit to is narrower and verifiable: your address is never stored in the clear, the keys live outside the database, and no other member is ever shown it.
Read the full security overviewFrequently Asked Questions
What is GovHomes?
GovHomes is a members-only rental platform exclusive for current federal employees and U.S. service members to connect and rent properties to each other.
How do I become a member of GovHomes?
Simply sign up using your official email address. To qualify, you must have a .gov or .mil email account.
Why do I need to sign up using my official email?
This is to ensure that only current and vetted federal employees and U.S. service members can rent a property.
What happens to my email address after I register?
It is encrypted with authenticated AES-256 encryption before it is written to disk, and the database stores only that ciphertext — we never keep a raw copy of your address. The encryption keys are held in protected application configuration rather than in the database, so a stolen database dump cannot be turned back into a list of members. Your address is also kept out of application logs, and no other member ever sees it.
What is the benefit of having only current federal employees and U.S. service members?
Current federal employees and U.S. service members have gone through some form of background check and are actively employed by the U.S. Government, giving the property owner an extra layer of security and confidence.
Is GovHomes free?
GovHomes is completely free for federal employees and U.S. service members. There are no listing fees to these users.
Are properties listed only from current federal employees / U.S. service members?
No, properties can be listed by federal employees, U.S. service members, realtors, property managers, and apartment leasing agents.
What if I want my spouse or loved one to browse properties for me?
Once you sign up and verify your employment, you may invite one member to browse under your account.
How do I connect with other members?
Once you are registered and you identify a property you are interested in, you can send them a secure message within the platform.
Ready to get started?
Create an account in minutes with your .gov or .mil email — encrypted the moment you register.