A question for the Realtors® (Jacksonville: sales, real estate, 2014)

[frisky]

I'm looking to purchase (obviously), however every Realtor® with whom I have spoken has told me that I cannot request to be shown homes in areas based on racial demographics. This makes no sense to me and I wonder if, perhaps, the "Fair Housing Act" that they keep quoting to me as the reason isn't being misinterpreted.

My understanding of the act is, I cannot be denied the option of purchasing in any area I choose based simply on my race (Mexican, if that's of any help), however I'm being told that if I request to be shown homes in areas where the primary demographic is Mexican (or Hispanic, if you prefer), they are not permitted to do that. One Realtor® even told me that telling me what the primary racial makeup of an area is, would not be permitted.

Does this sound right to any of you? If they were trying to guide me specifically to an area based solely on my race, I can see where this would be against the law. But guiding me to an area based on my specific request shouldn't be a problem.

Or is it? And if so, why?

[Sherwoody]

I have no answer for you but I LOVE the question. I am anxiously waiting for responses. In the meantime you can peruse the CD page.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Jacksonville-Florida.html

[Florida2014]

I could be wrong but racial demographics is not something that an MLS listing would track. So to set search criteria on racial demographics would not even be possible if I'm understanding it correctly. But you can request to be shown any house in any area you want. Just supply them with specific zip codes and/or neighborhoods and they can whittle it down for you. In other words, you can do the legwork to find which Hispanic neighborhoods suit you best, then you supply your realtor with that information.

But if there were such a thing on MLS, I would guess it probably would not be legal or otherwise ethical to search on "Predominately white" neighborhoods (as an example) so I think what they're telling you is accurate.

[frisky]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

But if there were such a thing on MLS, I would guess it probably would not be legal or otherwise ethical to search on "Predominately white" neighborhoods (as an example) so I think what they're telling you is accurate.

I don't suspect that would be part of the MLS. My assumption is that a competent Realtor® would know the areas where the various groups had migrated to over the years and would be able to provide guidance based on their personal knowledge of the market they serve.

[RestArea]

The Fair Housing Act has real teeth, and there are some groups that specialize in testing sellers by pretending to be buyers. They are minorities who want to see if they get turned down because of race. When that happens, lawsuits follow.

I had some property listed as FSBO, which I sold. When someone asked me about neighborhood religious makeup, race, or anything remotely like that, I just said I didn't know. I got some funny looks from a couple of prospective buyers, but I didn't care. I would expect any competent Realtor to be just as cautious as I was.

[EricBoyd]

Fair Housing laws apply at the federal, state, and probably the local level. Any competent Realtor should decline to give you specific guidance on where a certain class of people are living. The MLS does not track that data. Census data can probably guide you to a very vague extent, though. If it's important to you to live near your own [protected class], then you're the best one to figure out where that is, as has been suggested. Please don't take offense by not getting the exact help you want. The sales commission earned from any real estate transaction influenced by steering will be very tiny in comparison to the large fines and possible legal troubles that would follow. It just isn't worth it to take that chance that following the customer's direction may lead to big problems later.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_steering

[JBtwinz]

Interesting comments so far.

Growing up in my home state (yes up north) 50 years ago there were many cities in the state that were distinct to a certain ethnic background, my wife's town had a big population of French Canadians, other towns were distinct to the Italians and Portuguese.

Growing up it was very common to see my friends grand parents still only speaking their native country's language. Now that is a thing of the past as is distinct areas of the state for certain ethnic groups is not so much common any more along with grandparents who were right off of the boat.

[mawipafl]

frisky - as others have said, yes it is true. The ramifications are huge if a realtor gives you guidance as EricBoyd wrote because (quoting RestArea) "The Fair Housing Act has real teeth."

It's actually one reason why I didn't finish and complete a real estate course and become licensed. Not only does great care have to be taken on the buyer's side of a transaction, but also on the seller's side. If there are multiple offers, the real estate agent or broker must also be cautious not to guide a seller into choosing (other than to explain which offers are stronger or weaker, an explanation that can have nothing to do with the make-up of the buyers).

Since you have a specific demographic in mind, I think the only thing you can do is seek out these areas yourself. This does mean some time and effort, but if you do some driving around neighborhoods and be observant, and make inquiries of members in that demographic group, you may discover those pockets you're seeking.

Make a list of the houses you want to see. Don't disclose the purpose of your search to your realtor. Never discuss the reasoning behind your choices of the houses you've chosen. Your realtor will be astute to know what you're doing, but no words will be spoken about it between you. Your realtor will keep detailed notes to prove that these showings were by your request and not ones that he/she suggested to show you. Because of The Fair Housing Act, when your realtor sees the common thread, he/she cannot make mention of it to you.

[cfbs2691]

It's law that they cannot show you or even discuss racial demographics

[Florida2014]

City Data is probably one of the very best resources if you're looking for info on specific neighborhoods and demographics. Lots of folks happy to help you out. In fact, I think there is an active thread here on the first page about Hispanics in/around Jax which is probably a good resource for you.