Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Fair housing laws have a clear goal but leave many Kansas City real estate agents wondering exactly what we can tell area home buyers. What every real estate agent should know is they can not steer a home buyer to any home or area in a discriminatory way. To make sure there are no misconceptions in this regard, many Realtors simply won’t touch the subject of demographics. Every agent I know takes buyers to areas that fit their price range, wants and needs.  That’s the way it should be. When a potential client asked me  specifically to use descriptions like “ghetto” to describe certain areas, I told them I wouldn’t do so. I don’t know that doing so would have caused me any problems, but I had no interest in finding out.

I believe the best thing real estate agents can do to help their clients is provide links to the web sites that have  relevant facts and stats on a particular area.  If you want to know the demographics of Overland Park Kansas, then try The U.S. Census Bureau or City-Data.com. Those are just a couple of the places to get data on the areas that interest you. The same can be done when clients ask for school information. I am however more comfortable discussing schools and school districts with clients than I used to be. Some agents still refuse to broach the subject of schools. I got over my phobia of discussing schools with buyers after reading the following from John Trasvina, who is the assistant secretary of fair housing and equal opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. On the subject of schools, he concludes that “real estate agents ought to share information with clients on an even-handed basis”. In other words, it’s not so much what you say, as it is that you make sure you say it to EVERYONE. Otherwise, you’re better to not say it all. You can read more on this in the Baltimore Sun article “What A Real Estate Agent Can And Can’t Tell You“.

We’ve discussed demographics and schools, but what about crime stats? I believe the “say it to everyone or don’t say it all” philosophy also applies when it comes to crime stats. And since it’s not possible to memorize crime stats, I tell clients it’s important that I have the facts to support any assertions I make. Since that’s just not possible in the field, I’ll send my clients links to the information.  In most cases, there IS a way to give clients the information they request, without breaking any fair housing laws. On my web site, you’ll see I have links that quickly take buyers away from my site and to the information they seek. A good one is CrimeReports.com, which has excellent crime info on Kansas City, Missouri. Another interesting site is Crime Scene KC, which is a local blog with details about local crime — here’s a sample of their Olathe Kansas crime section.  CityRating.com is also very helpful and here’s their analysis of crime in Shawnee Kansas, for example.  Of course, visiting any municipalities own web site and also the local police department web sites are prime starting points.

Posted by Jason A. Brown