Seemingly Harmless Questions With Major Consequences if Answered Directly

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Fair Housing Law is a critical element of real estate today after a history of tremendous segregation in the United States including in our housing. Today, I still see racism and other bigotry against protected classes in my field. That said, fair housing implications can go beyond what you would expect in order to protect those that need protection. In some cases, even if there is no discrimination on the part of a real estate agent, they can be in legal trouble for being in breach of fair housing law if they offer their opinion about certain questions rather than being "the source of the source".

To get a Real Estate License - Law is Studied Almost Exclusively

Did you know that in order for a real estate agent to get licensed, they receive minimal practical knowledge about being a successful real estate agent outside of the scope of not breaking the law? That's right, to become a licensed real estate agent, the focus is almost exclusively on law. Naturally, that are a lot of ins and outs that are unfamiliar to buyers and sellers. It can be confusing, & in this article, I wanted to share more about some of the questions that real estate agents face when clients start asking seemingly harmless questions.

The Problem with Asking "What is the Best Area to Buy In?" or "I Want to Only Consider Neighborhoods with Low Crime In My Search" or "What Are the Best School Districts?"

When someone asks any one of these questions, it's important to note that "best" is highly unique to the individual. These questions can come up in a general conversation or can come up while a buyer is looking to build a search with their agent.

While sometimes accusations are warranted by prejudiced agents, it's also very easy for agents to be accused of violating Fair Housing Law regarding "steering" if they share opinions on certain issues even if the agent is completely unaware of any prejudices that might influence their decision. According to the balance, "Steering is a practice in real estate where agents discriminate toward prospective buyers and only show properties based on the buyer's race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected factors.."

According to the same article from the Balance, "real estate agents may choose not to comment on specific aspects of a community or neighborhood, preferring to give you resources on things like school system scores and crime statistics rather than offering something that could be construed as an opinion. If you notice your agent providing you with resources or statistics rather than opinions, they are trying to be an unbiased resource for you—they're not withholding information."

The Solution to Asking "What is the Best Area to Buy In?"

There are a wide range of factors important to this question, like tax rates, flood zones, differences in law, & more. Rather than relying on the opinion of a real estate agent, it's best to look at the data.

I go over dozens of these factors in my Master Spreadsheet for Prospective Home Purchase Considerations

I provide a breakdown by SE VA city/county in my SE VA City Information & Real Estate Property Info where I've done a lot of the legwork already for you.

If you'd prefer to have a composite model for "best" by zipcode, Niche has done that for you, but their "best" vs your "best" are likely to be very different. Also, even their A+ zipcodes can have some properties requiring flood insurance for any mortgage (which can be a few hundred dollars per year or more than a few thousand dollars per year), which just goes to show you that even when broken down by zipcode, it's still critical to look at the individual property area & to not rely exclusively on a search. Likewise, I see examples in SE VA where 1 A+ zipcode has less than half the real estate tax rate vs another A+ zipcode, but a property in a C+ zip code has lower tax rates than both & lower price per square foot cost.

Also, it's best to Zoom in relatively close with Niche's "best" zipcodes. For instance, if looking throughout SE VA, you can actually see some zip codes that are rated B when A+'s on the same map are invisible simply because you're not zoomed in enough. Here's what I mean:

Here's part of Hampton Roads zoomed out where you can see a B & B+'s:

Here's a zoomed-in version of Norfolk with 4 A-'s to A+'s that weren't visible on that zoomed out view until zooming in:

The Solution to Asking "I Want to Only Consider Neighborhoods with Low Crime In My Search."

https://crimegrade.org/ is a solid resource with a color-coded map of areas based on crime. That said, Crimegrade doesn't tell the whole story because of how large the tracts of land are. A single tract could have both a commercial area and a residential zone, for instance, where the commercial area has some crime, but the crime in the residential area is much smaller.

https://spotcrime.com/ is another solid resource, where you can see actual crimes and when they occurred relative to properties.

Would you want to know if a sex offender lived next door? I certainly would. Perform a search here: https://www.nsopw.gov/

While Trulia's crime map (RIP) used to be better than both of these sources combined, Trulia & Realtor.com both did away with their crime maps due to fair housing concerns. No matter what someone's protected class, I feel that it's backward thinking to take away anyone's right to know crime rates in a user-friendly fashion directly within a search portal. That said, I've been advised by the legal hotline that I shouldn't integrate a Trulia crime map that I spent dozens of hours copying into a search.

For more details on crime, go to my article on the subject here.

The Solution to Asking "What Are the Best School Districts?"

It's not difficult to add desired school districts to a search, especially if you have the right tools for it.

For the most up-to-date information based on differing algorithms, I recommend checking the ratings on Greatschools & Niche.

I've created one helpful tool for SE VA where I went through and cataloged the school districts throughout most of SE VA here so that it would be easier for buyers to quickly identify the school districts that they wanted to look in if wanting to narrow by school districts. Keep in mind that if you won't be putting kids through school, you can typically get lower price per square foot in initial cost (& end cost) in a school district that's not as well rated within the same city and within similar neighborhoods (& in some cases of crossover, the same neighborhood).

Agent Restricted Items Highlighted on Spreadsheet

My master spreadsheet of house purchase considerations highlights those elements where agents are restricted by law so that buyers can be cognizant of them and be sure to look at them themselves.

"Agent opinion restricted by law" highlighted on the spreadsheet on the left and right columns

I am not an Attorney

Keep in mind that I am not an attorney and that an attorney is best consulted for opinions on the law.

Related:

• Legal Duties of Buyer's Agents Per Virginia Law

• US Fair Housing Act

• Virginia Fair Housing Law

• Zillow: Fair Housing Act: The Basics of Fair Housing Laws

  
  

Guides Published by Others in the Subject:

Fair Housing Definition: A Comprehensive Guide for Real Estate Agents by Fit Small Business

(questions include: 1. Is this a safe neighborhood? 2. Are there churches nearby? 3. Are there good schools in the community? 4. Is the neighborhood good for families? 5. Is my service animal accepted? 6. Is this building wheelchair accessible?)