CHM Blog

Did your Realtor refuse to answer a question about a house that interested you? It might be a sign of good ethics

When you think of a real estate agent representing you to buy a home, you think of him or her as both an advocate as well as possessing a wealth of information about the homes that interest you. How old is the roof? Does it use gas or electric heat? And that biggie: How far is the nearest Starbucks?

Realtor.com’s Stephanie Booth agrees that your trusty real estate agent can tell you pretty much anything you need to know about a home you’re hoping to buy (or at least find answers for you). But she also knows that there are some questions that are off limits — those to which you’ll get non-answers. Why? Because they are careful to stay on the right side of the Fair Housing Act — a law passed back in the 1960s that prohibits housing discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or family/economic status.

Booth addresses several of these verboten questions, the first of which is, “Is this a good place to raise a family?? Brooklyn Law School professor David Weiss says, “This question is often “a lose/lose/lose for the Realtor.” He goes on to say that if an agent admits a certain area is not all that family-friendly, “it could imply that families with kids aren’t welcome.” On the flip side, “if the agent says that the neighborhood is a good place for kids, that could be interpreted as saying households without kids aren’t welcome, which is another form of discrimination.” And guess what? Housing professionals who try to either encourage or discourage homebuyers based on the “kid” question can, and do, face consequences in court.

A cautious agent will refrain from presuming where you and your family might thrive. But there is research you can do on your own (more on how to do that later).

The next one sounds similar, but it’s not. “What’s the neighborhood like?” Is a question that can open up all kinds of worm cans. Booth offers the example: If you ask a close friend this question because you want to live in a diverse area, and you may hear a candid answer along the lines of “Mostly older Irish Catholic with a small Chinatown and a sprinkling of hipster transplants fleeing the city.” Sound interesting? If you ask that of your agent, however, it will almost certainly go nowhere. Because especially when it deals with race or demographics, it comes dangerously close to “redlining”—a form of discrimination in which homebuyers are steered toward or away from neighborhoods based on the color of their skin.

Still want to know, though? You can get a sense of an area’s makeup via the U.S. Census website — which will undoubtedly be more accurate than any one person’s opinion.

How about asking if a particular area or neighborhood is safe? Another brick wall. Even if there had been gang violence on a nearby block but that happened a few years ago, an agent talking about this could be construed as racist or classist by steering you toward or away from a particular neighborhood, which is why they keep their lips zipped.

Do your diligence, however, by looking up crime statistics which are, by the way, public. Type in an address at a web site called “My Local Crime” to access any recent local crimes, from vandalism to shootings. A map will point you to where they happened so you know which blocks are sketchier than others. In California, there is a web site dedicated to showing the location of sex offenders living in a city by visiting the “Megan’s Law” website. See if your state also has a similar tool.

The quality of a neighborhood’s schools is among the most often asked questions. Again, however, because the racial divide can also run deep in U.S. schools, a Realtor has to be careful not to let their answer be construed as a coded message about race. Rather than risk a potentially offensive miscommunication, Realtors may very well introduce you to one of many websites that rank schools—such as Great Schools and School Digger.

Realtor, TBWS

How Rates Move:

Conventional and Government (FHA and VA) lenders set their rates based on the pricing of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) which are traded in real time, all day in the bond market. This means rates or loan fees (mortgage pricing) moves throughout the day, being affected by a variety of economic or political events. When MBS pricing goes up, mortgage rates or pricing generally goes down. When they fall, mortgage pricing goes up. Tracking these securities real-time is critical. For more information about the rate market, contact me directly. I'm among few mortgage professionals who have access to live trading screens during market hours.

Rates Currently Trending: Neutral

Mortgage rates are under mild pressure this morning. The MBS market improved by +44 bps last week. This may have been enough to decrease mortgage rates or fees. The market experienced high volatility last week.

This Week's Rate Forecast: Neutral

Three Things: These are the three areas that have the greatest ability to impact rates this week. 1) The Fed, 2) Central Banks, 3) Services.

1) The Fed: This is the last full week of commentary/speeches before their media black out period leading up to the next FOMC meeting. This week will get the Fed's Beige Book and hear from Susan Collins, John Williams and Raphael Bostic.

2) Central Banks: We will get a key interest rate decision and policy statement on Wednesday out of the Bank of Canada.

3) Services: The biggest economic report of the week will be Wednesday's ISM Non Manufacturing PMI which is about 2/3 of our economic engine.

This Week's Potential Volatility: Neutral

This morning markets are under mild pressure. Volatility has started at moderate levels but may spike on news this week.

Bottom Line:

If you are looking for the risks and benefits of locking your interest rate in today or floating your loan rate, contact your mortgage professional to discuss it with them.

Richard Sardella has been actively managing and providing services in the mortgage industry for over 30 years. Richard serves on the board of directors as President of Colorado Home Mortgages Inc.

All information furnished has been forwarded to you and is provided by thetbwsgroup only for informational purposes. Forecasting shall be considered as events which may be expected but not guaranteed. Neither the forwarding party and/or company nor thetbwsgroup assume any responsibility to any person who relies on information or forecasting contained in this report and disclaims all liability in respect to decisions or actions, or lack thereof based on any or all of the contents of this report.

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