"What Type of People Live There???"

I received a call from a lead who was interested in seeing a property she found online.  Upon qualifying her, I asked if she was also interested in a few other areas.  Her next question surprised me, since I've never been asked this type of question before. She asked, "What kind of people live in those area's?"  

The reason I was so surprised is because in this day and age, I would never think someone would ask that sort of question.  So to be sure I completely understood the question, I asked "What do you mean?"  She said "I mean what type of people live there, you know like Whites, Blacks, Indians?"  Depending on how long you've been a licensed Realtor, you've gone through the Fair Housing classes several times so you know this question violates Fair Housing Laws.  My answer was, "There are all kinds of people that live there but if that is important for you to know, you should do your own research!"  Needless to say, I never heard back from her person again. 

Many people have a list of criteria they are seeking when purchasing a house.  Most people want to know the crime rate, how good the schools are and if the neighbors are nice.  Some people like to live in a diverse cultural neighborhood and other don't.  Whatever your preference is, as Realtor's we cannot converse with our clients about the "type of people" that live in the neighborhood.  It is the responsibility of the client to determine the crime rate of an area, school rankings and who the neighbors are. 

If my clients are interested in a particular house and are unsure of the neighborhood, I usually recommend they visit the house at different times of the day and park their car to get a feel for the neighborhood.  Buying a house is a big investment, so you want to make sure it has all of the attributes you are interested in within reason!  If someone wants to live in a specific area, they need to provide zip codes, street names and/or a radius of the area they would like to received listings.  As long as the Realtor is not steering a client to a specific neighborhood, no one is breaking Fair Housing Laws.  Happy House Hunting!

Tabitha Richardson
Broker/REALTOR®

443.415.4215 cell  
443.320.9099 efax
410.363.1535 x101 office  
410.363.1536 fax

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