Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Feedback Requested - Partnering with Realtors

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Apr 23, 2024, at 2:22 PM, Linda Hobbet <coho [at] lindahobbet.com> wrote:

There are two different conditions here:
> 
> As a condominium we have no power to insist on how the potential buyer is 
> educated about the community.

> They aren't even required to give us names until a contract is signed. 
> Realtors may be limited in what they say by fair-housing laws. In North 
> Carolina our realtor could not say anything about our LGBTQ+ focus. 

Condominiums are not limited to what they can require in terms of information 
about the community. The Fair Housing law just says you can't discriminate 
against people on the basis of sex, etc. There would be concerns if in the 
orientation someone thought they were being discouraged or unreasonably set 
upon because they were male or female or had children, etc.  

The problem also is that it looks suspicious when you start using words like 
“require”. The minute you say “require” you have a battle on your hands. If you 
present the reasons why you advise people to do such and such that should be 
done so they understand that this is cohousing, not 2,000 unit building of 
anonymous neighbors. They need to understand the community and what their 
neighbors will expect of them socially. That is intrinsic to the definition of 
the unit.

How the realtor plays into this is another thing. They don’t own the Fair 
Housing Act and they aren’t the arbiters of what can or cannot be done in the 
name of fair housing. Not being able to reveal the buyer’s name is absurd. This 
has to be an agency or Realtors Association requirement — but I doubt if it is 
a law anywhere. No one has to sell to a person they don’t even know. Their 
motive is protecting the realtor’s fee and not allowing anything to be 
communicated to the buyer that might stop the sale. 

The restrictions on the basis of the Fair Housing Act are very clear. Someone 
would have to be able to prove that you rejected a person because they were not 
gay enough, or the wrong color, were handicapped, etc. There are very specific 
things that have to be proven. Plus, you can’t refuse to sell to someone, but 
the seller can choose from among the people who are interested.d

Realtors are not protecting the buyers or the sellers. They are protecting 
themselves.

The best way to protect the community is to get out ahead of it. No realtor can 
work faster, ahead of vacancies than you can.

Another protection is having press coverage that clearly says what kind of 
community you are. That is third-party verification. Besides if someone moves 
in just to cause trouble, you can drown them in potlucks.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org