Buying a home can be one of life's most complex decisions, and it helps to have an experienced and sensitive realtor to help you through the awkward moments that are bound to come up for LGBT homebuyers.
That's why the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and Realogy Corp., the world's largest real estate franchisor, launched the LGBT Real Estate Specialist (LGBTRES™) certification, in 2007.
"Buying a home is a significant purchase and this program has helped real estate agents who want to serve LGBT consumers provide a much more comfortable and compassionate experience," says Justin Nelson, co-founder and president of NGLCC.
The LGBTRES designation, awarded to sales associates and brokers who complete a thorough training and certification process and join the NGLCC, indicates that a real estate professional understands the needs of LGBT clients and is prepared to sensitively counsel them through buying or selling a home.
The LGBTRES training is carefully designed to help agents and brokers reach out to this large and important segment and gain an understanding of its needs. The training is modeled after the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) certification, which helps brokers and agents refine their pitches to the sensitivities of the senior citizen market.
New York-based Melanie D. Patrick represents ERA Insite Realty Services and has the LGBTRES certification. She says she obtained the designation to help make her LGBT customers "feel safe" when buying or selling their home with her. Although the course focused primarily on sensitivity training, she says, she also learned some surprising and useful statistics and marketing strategies.
"I like having the designation because it alerts people that they don't have to be worried about discrimination if they call me to help them buy or sell a home. For them I'm a 'safe place' where they won't have to counter any awkward questions or judgments as they might fear having to with some realtors." Patrick says.
At a time of drastically falling housing prices, realtors in prime LGBT real estate locations—Palm Springs, Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore., and the Chicago metropolitan area—can tap into a market that is considered more mobile and affluent than the traditional family of four.
The designation has also been endorsed by the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), which advocates for fair treatment in housing for LGBT consumers.
Jeff Berger, NAGLREP founder, finds the designation to be an exciting development and hopes it will bring further recognition of the LGBT real estate market to the consumer. He also rejects the myth among some agents that if they are part of the LGBT community themselves, they may be overqualified to receive the designation.
"Most LGBT agents we speak to spend over 80 percent of their advertising budget on mainstream marketing outside of the LGBT community," he says. "However, it isn't smart to assume that LGBT members aren't also part of that mainstream target market. If agents listed their LGBTRES certification in all of their marketing material, they would reach many more LGBT consumers out there."
The NGLCC delivers the training in sessions held periodically that include a half-day live lecture course or an online track which the candidates must pass to receive their certification. It also certifies LGBTRES trainers in Realogy's major markets to make the certification available to a wider audience.
(The training is offered to Realogy's affiliated sales associates and brokers at a substantially discounted rate. For more information about LGBTRES, visit http://www.nglcc.org/programs/lgbtres).
