Part II - Understanding Diversity

The NAR has partnered with HUD to gain insights into how people of differing cultures purchase homes and how they can be better served by the REALTOR®. The four-part Diversity program incorporates a total regrouping and rethinking toward buyers in general and will one day soon result in diversification at NAR's highest levels.

The first focus of the program will be on agent training, followed in 1999 by recruitment tools that will help brokers recruit minority agents. Then the NAR will concentrate on responding to the needs of minority members and increasing diversity in its leadership.

The first step is the certification course. The "At Home with Diversity: One America" certification course will launch the program.

"The first half of the course is about discovering local diversity," explains Fred Underwood, senior fair housing policy representative for the NAR. "There is a pre-course exercise that people who are different may look at homebuying differently - they may have some different expectations."

"HUD did some research and looked at how Hispanics, Koreans and others found out about and purchased homes. The idea behind the HUD research is that you cannot assume that they are looking for a house in the same way your last clients searched."

"The next step is how do I as a Realtor work with that? You need to know how cultures vary. We don't get into things like if you are working with an East Asian that you have to learn Feng Shui, because the differences don't necessarily apply to an individual prospect."

"The second half of the course is skill building. The first piece is cross-cultural skill. Before you get there, you have to learn how to read non-verbal signals that your prospect may not be comfortable for some reason. For that we have created a back-to-the-basics courtesy chart. If you are courteous it will take care of 9/10's of your problems."

"For example, we are comfortable using first names, but a lot of cultures are more formal. The safest thing to do is use the customer's last name until they tell you that you can use their first name. The rest of this class is devoted to business planning and making diversity part of your business planning."

Underwood recommends that agents continue to learn about other cultures in the community. "Spend some time interacting with people in their own cultural settings. Go to neighborhood festivals, read the local newspapers, and talk with community leaders," advises Underwood.

"It doesn't matter what group you come out of - the tools are the same," says Underwood. "It doesn't diminish the problems that some minority agents have doing business with whites, but the outreach can apply across the board."

The NAR's efforts will come not a moment too soon. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, minorities were responsible for 42 percent of the overall rise in homeownership between 1994 and 1997, yet minority households still only make up 17 percent of all home owners.

The U.S. Census has found that as of 1997, African Americans constitute 12.8% of the U.S. population, over 34 million people. Hispanics make up 11% of the population or 29.7 million. Yet less than five percent of those numbers are currently reflected in the NAR's agent membership profile.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found in its State of the Cities - 1998 research that 805,000 more African American and 867,000 more Hispanic households become homeowners between 1994 and 1998, bringing their homeownership rates to 46.0 and 44.4 percent, respectively.

Recent reports by the U.S. Census Bureau have shown that African American and Hispanic incomes are rising and poverty levels and public assistance are on the decline, enabling these increasingly powerful demographic groups to more easily become homeowners. This trend has been supported by the growth of Federal Housing Administration insured loans to first-time minority home buyers. Conventional mortgage lending to African-Americans has increased by 67 percent, lending to Hispanic borrowers is up nearly 50 percent.

It is the minority buyer who is helping to drive a record-breaking first-time home buyer market in 1998, which in turn is stimulating a record-breaking move-up market. Although a slowdown in home sales is natural and inevitable, there is no reason to turn back the momentum on the burgeoning minority market. The first time home buyer shows no signs of slowing down, and the minority buyer and Realtor have powerful friends who are working toward making the home buying experience not only easier, but a more pleasant experience.

Published: November 6, 1998

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