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July 2004
Index of all
messages
from the Association President
Are we missing an emerging market?
by Debra Green
Practicing Fair Housing not restricted to one month per year
April was a Fair Housing Month, June is Homeownership Month, and it goes on and on. If we make every month a Fair Housing Month, we would be way ahead of the game!
According to the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, "Diversity increasingly shapes housing markets. Over this decade, minorities are expected to contribute fully two-thirds, and immigrants alone more than one-quarter, to expected growth in households."
The appreciation of these facts and their impact is essential to the success of real estate professionals.
- Minorities are on track to add 7.5 million households between the years 2000 and 2010. In 2001, minorities accounted for about 32 percent of recent first time buyers, up from about 19 percent just eight years ago.
- The minorities share of U.S. households is expected to grow from about one-quarter to nearly one-third within 20 years. Household growth among younger minorities will increasingly offset losses among older whites.
- Foreign-born minorities alone now constitute about one in ten first time home buyers.
These are statistics you might want to consider when you plan your business in the coming years.
As a real estate professional, put into action your business plan for each year, and seriously think about making a very conscious effort to incorporate more diversity in your business marketing plans.
REALTOR® Online magazine published a fair housing compliance checklist. If you can answer "no" to any of these questions below, you need to evaluate the impact of those responses on your fair housing responsibilities and adjust your office policies practices.
- Do you have a written fair housing policy?
- Do you publicize your commitment to fair housing in your office, in your advertising, and to sellers and buyers?
- Is fair housing training required in your company?
- Have you developed a procedure to provide equal professional service?
- Do you review your office's compliance policy on a regular basis?
- Do you have a corrective action policy?
- Do you review and modify your procedures to respond to changes in the law or new fair housing issues and to correct deficiencies in your office?
- Do you have a mechanism for feed-back from customers and prospects?
Remember, your policy statement should say that you support all applicable laws, and it should state what the provisions of those laws are.
In my opinion, fair housing means simple, equal treatment to each and every customer and client. This ensures that you are never charged with disparate treatment. Use a consistent interview process for all your buyers and sellers, document and log, use the equal housing logo and keep good records. The above questions were reprinted from Fair Housing: Shared Neighborhoods, Equal Opportunities.
| Finally, last month I gave a statistic about the percentage of water usage by new homes in Aurora. Please read the article (in the printed newsletter) on p. 3 from the Aurora Utilities Department about the city's plans to add water to our area. The figure of 50 percent is wrong, it is much closer to half of one percent. Mea culpa. Have a wonderful and prosperous July! |
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