Up until now, there has been very little information available about the LGBT community’s preferences in the real estate business. But for the first time, Better Homes and Gardens has released their LGBT Buyer and Seller Survey, which asked for the LGBT community’s thoughts and feelings on home ownership and the processes of buying a home. Agents can now reference this survey to better understand the housing needs and wants of this much-neglected group.
One of the key points to come out of this survey is that 89 percent of all LGBT homeowners (and 75 percent of LGBT non-homeowners) think that homeownership is a good investment, but are concerned with housing discrimination, which is legal or not factored into the Fair Housing Act in 33 states.
However, this could change with Supreme Court’s pending ruling on gay marriage. Eighty-one percent of LGBT homeowners feel that a ruling for marriage equality will make them feel more financially protected and confident.
And that’s not to say that the LGBT community is foreign to home buying. More then half of LGBT community that responded to the survey owns some type of real estate. And both property-owning and non-property-owning have strong priorities when it comes to where they want to live, deeply rooted in safety (80 percent of respondents marked this as very important), living in a state with an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance (75 percent) and living in a progressive community (70 percent).
The most positive news to come out of this study is the predictions made for the future of the LGBT community and their future in buying and selling homes. The LGBT community is a huge part of our world, as Jeff Berger, founder of NAGLREP, points out, “Individuals who identify themselves as LGBT represent an estimated buying power of $840 billion and reportedly live in 99.3 percent of all countries nationwide. The LGBT community is a key part of the nation’s landscape and a powerful market segment that is increasingly achieving social milestones that are historical triggers to home purchases, such partnerships, marriage and having children.”