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While I completely understand agents need to follow the rules, the rules are too broad. It's not wrong for someone to want to live in a neighborhood with people that are similar to themselves. A family with kids may not want to live in a neighborhood of empty-nesters - that's not discrimination, it's human nature. When relocating (especially if blindly for a job), it's extremely difficult to determine this information on your own.
How could a realtor possibly have this information on every neighborhood though? I mean at some point you have to do your due diligence. Drive around look at the pool if there is one, go on nearby greenways....bottom line is I hear this complaint a lot too and it's NOT allowed. And NO agent can know if they're being investigated - there was a huge fair housing investigation last year on LI where agents were recorded sending black people to black towns and discouraging them from lilly white towns.
Is this just something that's just staring to be emphasized to realtors or something many realtors aren't aware of? Because I've definitely had discussions with realtors that involved talk about certain neighborhoods being good for families with kids and discussions about the schools the neighborhood is assigned to and amenities that are around and so on. Honestly, I'd have been shocked if a realtor told be they couldn't discuss any of this until I heard things recently on this forum about this rule.
Its get emphasized quite often, especially if someone makes a complaint about something they were told.
Its easy enough to check wcpss.net to find out the school a particular address is assigned to.
We can discuss amenities. Amenities are not included in Fair Housing!
It isn't a "rule". It is the LAW and it is a FEDERAL LAW.
Years ago, I had put a listing into MLS and in the directions, I said to turn at Hayes Barton Church. It is a huge Church and if anyone knows the area, it is easy to spot. Someone from MLS emailed me and said to take it out as it was against Fair Housing! Picky?
From time to time, we'll get notified that Agents from other areas are saying negative things about Durham and we are told to be careful as to what we are saying, especially about the schools, etc. It has been told to us that mystery shoppers are calling agents and asking questions that go against Fair Housing to see what their responses are.
ALL Realtors know these laws and they know what they feel that they can get away with.
I'm posting this because I want Buyers/Sellers/General Public to understand why Realtors can't tell you certain things. And, like I said, I don't always KNOW who lives in each home in each neighborhood, anyway! So, some questions about interracial neighborhoods are not only against Fair Housing but are also impossible to know.
How could a realtor possibly have this information on every neighborhood though? I mean at some point you have to do your due diligence. Drive around look at the pool if there is one, go on nearby greenways....bottom line is I hear this complaint a lot too and it's NOT allowed. And NO agent can know if they're being investigated - there was a huge fair housing investigation last year on LI where agents were recorded sending black people to black towns and discouraging them from lilly white towns.
I don't expect an agent have info on every neighborhood, but if I were looking for a family neighborhood near a highly rated school, I'd appreciate the guidance from someone that lives in the area. Of course I would do my own due diligence to confirm the info I was given. That's really the purpose of a realtor, but for some reason they're not allowed to talk about things that are actually useful.
I have no issue with an agent breaking rules that we mutually agree have no basis. It's appreciated actually.
Right.
There are a lot of unethical and dishonest people out there.
I wade through them weekly.
It is like the car industry saying, "There's a butt for every seat."
Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors. Something for everyone.
Choosing a real estate agent, a financial planner, an attorney, an electrician, whatever service provider, are very personal decisions.
Once they lie to me, lie to the governing boards, and lie to NAR, NCAR, RRAR, their brokers, on and on, how do YOU keep them honest and ethical?
We specialize in real estate. We don't sell people. Selling people has been illegal for a very long time in the USA.
Working in real estate, I have great utility for clients.
This afternoon, I am going to look under a 60 year old home for water and water lines.
We will know if there is aluminum branch circuit wiring.
We will know how old the water heater is.
We will know a great deal more about the house, and that knowledge will be free to them.
Seems useful to me, but I won't fulfill any desire to lie. Not Sorry if honesty is or isn't "useful."
Right.
There are a lot of unethical and dishonest people out there.
I wade through them weekly.
It is like the car industry saying, "There's a butt for every seat."
Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors. Something for everyone.
Choosing a real estate agent, a financial planner, an attorney, an electrician, whatever service provider, are very personal decisions.
Once they lie to me, lie to the governing boards, and lie to NAR, NCAR, RRAR, their brokers, on and on, how do YOU keep them honest and ethical?
We specialize in real estate. We don't sell people. Selling people has been illegal for a very long time in the USA.
Working in real estate, I have great utility for clients.
This afternoon, I am going to look under a 60 year old home for water and water lines.
We will know if there is aluminum branch circuit wiring.
We will know how old the water heater is.
We will know a great deal more about the house, and that knowledge will be free to them.
Seems useful to me, but I won't fulfill any desire to lie. Not Sorry if honesty is or isn't "useful."
That is all very useful - and what I expect out of a home inspection, not a realtor. I expect a realtor to help me find the best neighborhood and home that fits the criteria that I specify. As you yourself always say - location, location, location. Bummer you're not allowed to help me with that.
I don't expect an agent have info on every neighborhood, but if I were looking for a family neighborhood near a highly rated school, I'd appreciate the guidance from someone that lives in the area. Of course I would do my own due diligence to confirm the info I was given. That's really the purpose of a realtor, but for some reason they're not allowed to talk about things that are actually useful.
IMHO people who ask questions like that just set themselves up for disappointment anyway. You can't control every aspect of your life. Around here it is pretty easy to see what you're getting. Not always the case where I'm from where people stay in their houses till they are falling down around them. Plus you're faulting an agent for following FEDERAL LAW. That's tough. Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean you should. Again, if someone records them that's it. Bye bye career!
But case in point....when we moved here I was a little disappointed that all the girls DD's age lived on the other side of the neighborhood....and were always playing together. At the same time, I suspected there would be issues as they grew and there were. Two people MOVED AWAY to other nabes, two people send their kids to different schools to get away from the group, there were petty jealousies about whose kid GT and whose made what soccer team. I just kicked back and didn't have to deal with it. So when I see people here saying "I want a neighborhood with lots of people my age and my kids' ages to be friends with" on the one hand I totally get it and on the other - there's no guarantees. When we lived in NY everyone on our street hated each other because they all remembered each other from HS. Go two streets over and they were one big happy family, just no way to predict it.
I knew this, but we found out one of our offers this spring was a middle aged couple that did not want to be in a neighborhood with kids. They came back with a second higher offer to compete, but we chose a different offer that was a perfect fit. The couple would have been miserable, our cul-de-sac was a communal backyard despite the large lots. It seemed obvious to me given cul-de-sac, play structures etc. Normally the packs of kids would be out, but it was at the very beginning of covid when everyone was inside. So I guess their agent must have told our agent hoping she’d give out some info?
I wouldn't put this in writing. Home sellers are not supposed to consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, or disability per the Fair Housing Act. The tough thing for lawsuits is usually proof (how do you show the seller picked them due to their religion rather than their financing), but this is now in writing and sounds like family status was a major reason in the selection of an offer.
While I understand trying to look out for this couple, similar thoughts have been used for "this couple is black and wouldn't like living in an all white neighborhood" or "there are many Christians on this street and a Jewish person wouldn't be as happy here."
Its get emphasized quite often, especially if someone makes a complaint about something they were told.
Its easy enough to check wcpss.net to find out the school a particular address is assigned to.
We can discuss amenities. Amenities are not included in Fair Housing!
It isn't a "rule". It is the LAW and it is a FEDERAL LAW.
Years ago, I had put a listing into MLS and in the directions, I said to turn at Hayes Barton Church. It is a huge Church and if anyone knows the area, it is easy to spot. Someone from MLS emailed me and said to take it out as it was against Fair Housing! Picky?
From time to time, we'll get notified that Agents from other areas are saying negative things about Durham and we are told to be careful as to what we are saying, especially about the schools, etc. It has been told to us that mystery shoppers are calling agents and asking questions that go against Fair Housing to see what their responses are.
ALL Realtors know these laws and they know what they feel that they can get away with.
I'm posting this because I want Buyers/Sellers/General Public to understand why Realtors can't tell you certain things. And, like I said, I don't always KNOW who lives in each home in each neighborhood, anyway! So, some questions about interracial neighborhoods are not only against Fair Housing but are also impossible to know.
When we were buying our first house in NY, listings in the town we bought in routinely said "close to parks, schools and houses of worship!". They don't say that anymore!
Anecdotally I saw A LOT of complaints when Green Level HS opened that said things like "My realtor told me I'd always be assigned to Panther Creek". One of the funniest comments I read was a woman who said "who do I fight and I mean FIGHT about this?!"
The law gives realtors an out but some of them are too dumb to take it.
That is all very useful - and what I expect out of a home inspection, not a realtor. I expect a realtor to help me find the best neighborhood and home that fits the criteria that I specify. As you yourself always say - location, location, location. Bummer you're not allowed to help me with that.
So, hire an idiot who won't tell you about the house and toss in a $15,000 non-refundable DD Fee and $600 for home inspections before you learn that the idiot not only is the liar you hoped for, but also lacks minimal skills expected of an agent, and eagerly walked past 5 obvious dealbreakers while blabbering about the schools and whether you have to live around black folks or gay people.
Yeah, I am not a home inspector either. I am also not cavalier with my clients DD Fees, even getting paternalistic with 1st timers in a wild market.
Its get emphasized quite often, especially if someone makes a complaint about something they were told.
Its easy enough to check wcpss.net to find out the school a particular address is assigned to.
We can discuss amenities. Amenities are not included in Fair Housing!
It isn't a "rule". It is the LAW and it is a FEDERAL LAW.
Years ago, I had put a listing into MLS and in the directions, I said to turn at Hayes Barton Church. It is a huge Church and if anyone knows the area, it is easy to spot. Someone from MLS emailed me and said to take it out as it was against Fair Housing! Picky?
From time to time, we'll get notified that Agents from other areas are saying negative things about Durham and we are told to be careful as to what we are saying, especially about the schools, etc. It has been told to us that mystery shoppers are calling agents and asking questions that go against Fair Housing to see what their responses are.
ALL Realtors know these laws and they know what they feel that they can get away with.
I'm posting this because I want Buyers/Sellers/General Public to understand why Realtors can't tell you certain things. And, like I said, I don't always KNOW who lives in each home in each neighborhood, anyway! So, some questions about interracial neighborhoods are not only against Fair Housing but are also impossible to know.
I meant amenities that would be of particular interest to families and kids and the discussion was clearly about that issue.
I'm certainly not arguing with you and think what you're posting is useful. I was just asking if this particular issue (no discussing children at all not just not discriminating against them) was new because until it was mentioned recently on this forum, it's never been my experience that agents couldn't discuss anything related at all to children even if it was positive things that might be of interest to clients looking for family oriented neighborhoods.
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