From left to right: Jeff Berger, Dan Forsman, Gary Scott, John Yen Wong, Eddie Berenbaum, Joe Nery, John Featherston
Sometimes, even publishers use the wrong words. While the title of RISMedia’s Power Broker Forum at the recent REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., touted “emerging-market business,” we came to realize this was a misnomer. The reality is, these markets have already changed the face of the real estate business.
As Co-moderator Gary Scott said, “We’re talking about emerging markets, but I’d like to suggest that they’ve already emerged. Real estate firms better take note of what’s happening.”
During the Forum—officially titled, “Expand Your Horizons, Boost Business: Understanding and Capturing Emerging-Market Business,” a panel of key association heads and brokers offered in-depth insight into understanding and working with the Hispanic, Asian, LGBT markets and more. The line-up included:
Moderators
- John Featherston, President & CEO, RISMedia
- Gary Scott, President of Real Estate Brokerage, Long & Foster Inc.
Panelists
- Joseph Nery, President, The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)
- John Yen Wong, CRB, Founding Chairman, Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA)
- Jeff Berger, Founder & CEO, The National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP)
- Dan Forsman, President & CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties
- Eddie Berenbaum, President/Chief Marketing Officer, CENTURY 21 Redwood Realty
“The idea of talking about diversity 38 years ago [when Featherston started RISMedia] would never have happened,” said Featherston as he opened the Forum. And while we tend to take a statistical approach to determine what percentage of which demographic and ethnic groups comprise our particular markets, we need to instead realize that the face of every market has changed and is changing further.
“You can slice and dice the numbers,” said Featherston, “but it’s 100 percent of your marketplace.”
“I’ve been in real estate for 30 years,” said Scott. “There’s never been a more challenging and more opportunistic time to do what we do. The changes we’ve experienced in the last 38 months pale in comparison to the changes we’ll see in the next 38 months.”
If you’re at all doubtful about the changing face of homeownership, consider the statistics Joe Nery shared regarding Hispanics. According to NAHREP’s latest State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, while homeownership among the overall U.S. population trended down in 2015, Hispanic homeownership leapt off the charts, increasing from 45.6 to 46.1 percent that same year.
The other interesting fact Nery pointed out is that while most perceive the Hispanic population to be centered in big metro areas, towns like Omaha, Neb.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Wichita, Kan. are also experiencing high Hispanic population growth.
As Nery said, “We’re growing everywhere. We’re also the youngest ethnic group – the median age is 29. We are a young demographic leading the housing charge. If you’re not involved, you will be left behind.”
As John Wong aptly noted during the Forum, “Everyone in this room is business-focused and wants to know, ‘How can I make more money?’ You have to have ways for all agents to build business.”
When it comes to servicing Asian …read more
From:: Real Estate News