The agents are not talking
I take questions. Email to Rona Fischman. But sometimes a slightly off-topic comment repeats a question I’ve seen before.
JJ34 asked:
Rona -- are there laws in MA about what agents *can't* tell their clients? When we bought I first house in the Midwest, back when information was nowhere near as readily available online as it is today, one of the things that I really liked about our agent was that she was a very straight shooter. When my husband and I inquired about looking at houses in a certain section of town she nipped that in the bud and told us we wouldn't want to be over there (and she was right). However, when we bought our house in CT our agent seemed to be very "by the book" and I vaguely recalled her saying something to the effect of not being "allowed" to share her opinions about certain schools, etc. Since we were moving across the country and didn't know much about the area, and she lived here her whole life and was an expert on the area, it actually would have been helpful to have some advice and not simply a reiteration of the facts (i.e. "the school is having a lot of budget problems and has been in the news, let me pull some articles for you" as opposed to "yes, there is a school there." )
In general, the reason agents don’t talk about schools or safety is because their managers or brokers tell them they are not allowed to. No law, just policy. What are they afraid of? First, being accused of steering. Second, being held to a subjective opinion on something.
In quality offices, there is information about schools and crime. That information is factual, not subjective. In some offices, like mine, we provide factual data links and also rely on parents in the districts and owners in neighborhoods who can speak to their experiences.
Today, is an encore of a previous entry.
Q: Why would agents not tell you about the great schools?
Answer number one: Unless the agent says the same thing to every customer or client, that agent may be seen as practicing “steering.” Steering violates fair housing laws. It is the attempt to encourage people to buy in areas with people “just like” the buyer. In the past, this practice maintained segregated communities.
Here’s an example:
Suppose Dullsville has a reputation for great schools and town service. It is more expensive than the town next door, Blahburg, known for mediocre schools and town services. Of course, Dullsville is more expensive.
If an agent assumes that a buyer will want Dullsville for the good schools because of who the buyers are, that agent is discriminating. If the buyer is in a protected class, that agent is breaking the fair housing law.*
If an agent says this, the agent is breaking the law:
To a heterosexual, white, couple: Since schools are important to you, it might make sense to look in Dullsville and buy a smaller house. Blahburg has lower MCAS scores and sends fewer kids to 4-year colleges.
and
To a couple with a foreign accent: You will find a bigger house in Blahburg. Schools? They have MCAS scores at about the State average and send about 30 percent of their students to 4-year colleges. You can’t get a house as big as you want in Dullsville.
and
To two married men: You can get more house for the money in Blahburg (assuming they do not intend to have children.)
Answer number two: Agents avoid subjective judgments.
Realtor AJS commented that this was LAW [his capital letters.]
I don’t think it is actually law. I think it is one of those things that agents are taught in agent-school. “It is best to keep your opinion out of things that you can’t quantify,” say the real estate instructors. The problem is that one person’s nice neighborhood is another person’s slum.
This should not stop an agent from knowing the comparative, measurable quality of the town(s) their client or customer is asking about. The objective measures should be quoted. Clients or customers need to ultimately make their own decisions.
*Protected classes: Race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex (gender), sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability (mental or physical,) age (except elderly retirement communities that meet certain standards.)
There are additional classes in regard to rental housing.
