Discrimination Liabilities When Selling Your House

Most home sellers are not aware that they must comply with the HUD Fair Housing Act when selecting someone to purchase their property.  The Fair Housing Act, as administered in the state of Washington, protects against discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion/creed, sex/gender, the presence of children, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity, marital status, and military/veteran status. These are known as “protected classes”.

In this very competitive market, many buyers write “love letters” to the seller explaining what they love about the home and often giving lots of info about themselves, sometimes including a photo with the dog and kids.  The problem is that the letters reveal many things about the buyers that fall under the protected classes.

These letters can sway sellers to select one buyer over another.  This is usually not done with malicious intent, but because they recognize something about themself in the buyer or they feel sympathy for the buyer’s situation.  “I’m a single mom, so I want to pick the single mom,” “I’m selecting the grandparents so they can be close to their family who lives on the same street.” Other times, it could be more openly discriminatory — “Their last name is foreign and I don’t trust someone from that country” etc.

So, as a real estate broker, how do I protect my sellers from discrimination liability? 
Let’s look at a recent example of a client we will call Mr. E. He had 9 offers on his home from people of various ethnic backgrounds, genders, and family statuses. Many of them included buyer love letters complete with photos of the buyer’s family.

To protect Mr. E, I put the information about each offer on a spreadsheet, assigning each buyer a number, and I did NOT forward any of the buyer love letters. This way, we were able to evaluate the offers based on:

  • The merits of the offer such as price, terms (amount of earnest money and down payment, closing date, inspection required or waived.)
  • The likeliness of the sale to close.
  • The financial condition of the buyer.

Mr. E made his selection based on these items without any risk of potential discrimination, as he knew each client only as a number.  The winning client’s offer was $30,000 over the asking price, had a $150,000 down payment, and I was to negotiate a one-month rent-back (at no cost to the seller), which was very important to him because his next home in another state would not be available until then.

My real estate process is not just about generating multiple offers —  it’s also about protecting you from the many areas with liability risks. When you work with me, you are getting a broker who is experienced and aware of the areas with potential risks that can arise and has a plan in place to protect you from those risks.  Call me to find out what I can do to help you maximize the return on the sale of your home while protecting you from potential liability risks.

Maximize Your Homes Value

When you’re looking to sell your home, the details matter. At the Pelham Group NW, we use our years of experience to advise you on the Pacific Northwest market and help you not only list your home but repair and stage your home to maximize its selling price.

Our clients are often surprised by the level of creativity and commitment we bring to selling their home. With our years of interior design and remodeling experience, our team has unique insight into how to showcase your home’s full potential and generate the best market response with a competitive pricing strategy and customized marketing plan.

Most of all, we handle all the details with the utmost care and discretion. Your personal and financial information is treated with sensitivity, and we always put your best interests first. That’s our promise to you.  Give Kim Pelham a call today at 425.213.8761 or schedule a FREE consultation today to learn more about selling your home this Summer.

Real Estate Selling Advice During COVID-19

During the first few weeks of the pandemic, there was a marked decrease in buyer activity, but once the ban on showings was lifted and people got used to operating in the new COVID environment, buyer showings steadily increased week-by-week.

Right now, supply is at a near all-time low, and demand is exceptionally strong resulting in near all-time high prices. I am predicting that there will be an influx of homes coming on the market in August which will relieve a little bit of the pressure on the market, but I expect that demand will stay strong through the fall since we have had a housing shortage for a very long time resulting in a large backlog of people who want to buy homes. It is unknown if the demand will remain strong through the holiday months, as traditionally people do not like to move at this time.

FORECLOSURES: Housing analysts do not expect a dramatic increase in foreclosures anytime soon for a couple of reasons.

  1. Housing prices are at record highs. This means that most people who are experiencing financial difficulty have equity in their home and can sell it. This was not possible During the Great Recession where prices had fallen 35% in 2008 alone.
  2. Regarding forbearance: Interestingly, it appears that people who requested forbearance seem to have done so as insurance just in case they lost their jobs, as 55% have continued to make their mortgage payments. Even if the economy worsens and there are many foreclosures, it could take a year or longer before we see those properties finally go on the market due to the lengthy foreclosure process.

For more details, check out this article on COVID-19 Foreclosures.

That being said, we are long overdue for a downturn in the market. Historically, the housing market cycles every 12 years. The last peak was in 2006, so we are due for a swing anytime now just in the normal course of the market.

COVID economic stressors and massive problems with Boeing might affect consumer confidence enough to slow down the real estate market. So my best advice for someone considering selling their home is to do it as soon as you possibly can to take advantage of the current market conditions which are extremely favorable toward sellers. We are at peak demand and peak prices right now, and there is no way to know how long this will continue.

Maxmize Your Homes Value

When you’re looking to sell your home, the details matter. At the Pelham Group NW, we use our years of experience to advise you on the Pacific Northwest market and help you not only list your home, but repair and stage your home to maxmimize its selling price.

Our clients are often surprised by the level of creativity and commitment we bring to selling their home. With our years of interior design and remodeling experience, our team has unique insight into how to showcase your home’s full potential and generate the best market response with a competitive pricing strategy and customized marketing plan.

Most of all, we handle all the details with the utmost care and discretion. Your personal and financial information is treated with sensitivity, and we always put your best interests first. That’s our promise to you.  Give Kim Pelham a call today at 425.213.8761 or schedule a FREE consultation today to learn more about selling your home this Summer.

A Team Effort to Find the Perfect Home

I am so very excited for this ambitious young man!  I met Taylor two years ago through lender Dan Bayla. Taylor told me that his goal was to become a real estate investor.  He worked hard at saving for a down payment, improving his credit score, researching real estate investing and listening to real estate podcasts during his day job while he drove a truck.  He also started his own business helping other people improve their credit.

Read More