Over the past 13 years of selling real estate in Myrtle Beach, I have experienced all types of situations and questions from clients. Unfortunately, because of the Fair Housing Act there are certain questions that as a Real Estate Agent, I am not allowed to answer.
Here are just of the few questions I have been asked in the past. These are questions you should never ask your REALTOR®:
- Are there a bunch of kids in the neighborhood? I don’t want a bunch of children living around me! One of the classes covered under the Fair Housing Act is age. If the age of your neighbors is an issue to you, I always suggest driving through the neighborhood and look for clues to make your own conclusion. Look for basketball hoops, trampolines, swing sets and children on bicycles.
- Are there a bunch of (enter a particular race) living here? Another protected class under the Fair Housing Act is race. As a REALTOR® we cannot discriminate against race. Surprisingly though, we are asked this question probably more than any other question.
- Is this home located in a ghetto? This is the actual question that sparked me to write this post. First, I do not know what you would consider a ghetto. Secondly, even if I knew what was considered a ghetto, I would not be able to disclose that information. If someone who asked this was referring to the safety of a neighborhood, I cannot discuss that either. I would instead refer the client to the local police department who can share about the safety of the neighborhood.
- Are there a bunch of (enter any religion) living here? Just like race and age, we cannot discriminate against religion either.
- It seems there are some disabled people living next door, will that affect my property? Disabled people are also part of a protected class. I cannot comment, positive or negative about disabled people either.
While there are many other wild and crazy questions I receive daily, these are just 5 of the more regular questions I am asked that I cannot answer that relate to buying a home here in Myrtle Beach. So, while you may want answers to questions like these, use some of the suggestions I mentioned to find your answers instead of your real estate agent.
photo by:
tj scenes
It is no news to anyone that selling real estate has drastically changed over the past several years. During 2004-2006 we experienced a very strong sellers market where you would just list your home for sale and wait for multiple offers to flood in within the first week. In many occasions, these multiple offers would result in higher than listing price offers being made by buyers.
