Racism In Real Estate

It was a few years back when I had lunch with Raj (@rajsandhurealtor). At some point during our lunch, the conversation changed to a discussion of racism. He started telling me how many more challenges he faced in accepting his offers.

One story, where they were in every way better than the accepted offer on paper and the listing agent said "my clients didn't like you guys" ..... "you guys" a phrase that Raj hears often, implying race, religion and so much more.

Raj sent me to the comment section of one of his videos, a very well-done video about investing in Winnipeg, a video that I could have done that may have had a few snide remarks about Winnipeg, but no remarks about me as a human. But Raj got many comments about him as a human, the opinions were not just about our city, but a direct hit at him.

As a listing agent, when I am presenting offers to my sellers I make a point of not reading names until decisions are made. We review facts - price and terms of an offer - before I read the names because whether we like it or not racism is alive and well, and reading a name on an offer may unintentionally change the outcome. A seller may not want to select an offer based on a name that sounds like a specific ethnicity and may gravitate to a name they like the sound of better - which is discrimination.

Every day, with every person, we never know what they are going through, but as Realtors we can look to our colleagues and learn more about them. Understand that some of us are going through more than others. Have a higher hill to climb with more obstacles in the way for no other reason than the colour of their skin. We can all take steps to ensure there is no racism or discrimination in the deals and interactions we have in our workplace. We can all do better.