If you were moving to a new city and trying to decide where you wanted to live, you would have a lot of questions before you chose a neighborhood.
The most common questions are:
- Where are the best (or good) schools?
- Where are homes in my price range?
- Where can I find a newer home?
- Where are areas that are walkable or near vibrant urban areas?
These questions are easy to answer for an experienced buyer’s agent.
But real estate agents also get a lot of questions about two areas that we aren’t allowed to discuss: crime & racial, ethnic or religious background.
Why Can’t Real Estate Agents Answer Questions about Race and Crime?
For many years, non-white buyers were not allowed to buy homes in white neighborhoods. Real estate agents would “steer” people, only showing them homes in neighborhoods where the residents matched their racial, ethnic and religious background.
The Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed to eliminate steering and discrimination. According to the American Bar Association:
The law prohibits housing discrimination by real estate firms and homeowners. This means that homeowners may not refuse to lease or sell property based on race, religion, gender, color, or national origin. In some localities, special housing discrimination ordinances or laws also cover sexual orientation.
How does the Fair Housing Act impact real estate agents and buyers?
In order to fully comply with the Fair Housing Act, rules have been put in place by the real estate licensing authorities that prohibit agents from even talking about race, religion or ethnicity. Since buyers will often ask about crime as a way to find out the demographic background of the people living in an area, real estate agents are taught to avoid answering these questions too.
The result is that real estate agents can no longer legally steer people to communities that match their racial or ethnic background.
But the flip side is also true.
I’m working with a buyer who is looking for a diverse neighborhood. My clients are a white couple who adopted two Hispanic children, and would like to raise their children in a diverse community.
The same rules that don’t allow discrimination against people due to their background, also don’t allow me to guide buyers who are looking for diversity.
Find Demographics for Every Address in the U.S:
Who decides what is a good area?
Different people are looking for different things. As buyers, you have the right to base your decision on any factor you want.
You need to decide for yourself what you are looking for in a community and what you consider a “good” or “bad” area.
Since the answer to these questions are totally subjective, real estate agents shouldn’t be answering these questions for you. Instead, they should be pointing you to factual information so you can get the information and decide for yourself which part of town you want to live in.
Though real estate agents shouldn’t (and legally can’t) discuss crime or racial demographics, we can point people to resources so they can research information for themselves.
When people ask about crime, agents are taught to refer them to the local police department. I’ve also posted crime maps for St. Louis City and St. Louis County.
How to find out the racial makeup of any community:
The U.S. census tracks a number of factors that may be important to buyers as they choose a community. Recently, I found a website that provides a snapshot of helpful information for every address.
Here are screen shots of the information for a home one of my buyers recently bought in the Shaw neighborhood near Tower Grove Park:
Map:
Demographics are based on census tracts. The site gives you a map so you can see the boundaries of the census tract.
Summary:
Overview of the income, racial background and housing for the area
Income:
Median income for the state, metro area & tract and % below the poverty line
Population:
Minority and non-Hispanic white population, total population & number of families
Housing:
Total housing units, average age of housing, owner-occupied vs rental units, vacant housing units
You can also find out the racial makeup of any Missouri public school by visiting the MO Dept of Education website and looking at the school report cards. If you would like comprehensive information for a specific address, be sure to check out the census bureau website.
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PDF Possibly Related Posts:
- St. Louis City & County Crime Maps ~ Finding a Safe Community
- Buyer’s Guide: Crime Statistics for St. Louis County Municipalities
- Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose a Safe Neighborhood in St. Louis City
- Tips for Buyers on Choosing a Safe Neighborhood
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