Case Studies
Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS®
New Projects Show that KCRAR Speaks Its Customers's Language
Summary
Responding to rapid growth in the area’s Hispanic population, the Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® created a Hispanic Diversity and Outreach Task Force. The Association has accepted the recommendations of the task force to translate 39 standardized contract forms into Spanish, launch a traveling homebuying seminar in Spanish, and educate its members in developing and improving business relationships with Hispanic clients. All of these projects are now in progress.
Background
The Kansas City region, which includes both Kansas and Missouri, has seen the Hispanic population double over the past 10 years. The Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® (KCRAR) now serves a population that is 17 percent Hispanic, a percentage that is expected to continue to rise. But home sales have not risen significantly among Hispanics: less than 49.5 percent of Hispanic families in the Kansas City region own their homes, a rate below the national average for Hispanic homeownership. Hispanic families are a significantly underserved market—in fact, KCRAR estimates that they represent a potential increase in regional home sales revenue of over $12.6 million.
What the Association Did
At last year’s NAR annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Cristalle Johnson, public policy coordinator for KCRAR, attended a diversity meeting and received a copy of the 2004 Diversity Toolkit. She read it on her return flight, saw how much the Hispanic population was increasing in other areas, and when she arrived home did some research on her own area, unearthing the statistics detailed above.
Johnson assembled a task force consisting of 12 REALTORS® (a mix of Spanish and non-Spanish speakers) and representatives of community organizations, including the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, El Centro (the Hispanic community center), >Dos Mundos (Kansas City’s bilingual newspaper), and St. Aloysius Catholic Church (the largest Hispanic church in the region). The Hispanic Diversity and Outreach Task Force meets monthly, and has set four goals: Spanish forms, homebuying seminars, marketing, and REALTOR® education.
Spanish forms: In a June 2, 2004, >Realty Times article titled “Speaking Spanish to Hispanics Pays Dividends,” Lew Sichelman wrote, “Hispanics are more uncomfortable than any other ethnic group in handling business transactions in English, according to a study of homebuying attitudes.” Yet none of the real estate companies in the Kansas City area provided Spanish forms to their agents. KCRAR saw that becoming the sole provider of such forms would help its members and at the same time make membership
in its association more attractive. The Association decided to translate 39 standardized contract forms into Spanish, which will cost approximately $9,000.
Homebuying seminars: The Task Force noticed that homebuying classes currently offered in Spanish were only available in locations convenient to a small segment of potential clients. Once the forms are translated, KCRAR will launch a traveling Spanish language homebuying seminar. The seminar will feature a homebuying guide and directory of Spanish-speaking title agents, inspectors, and other important contacts in the homebuying process. California’s Southland Regional Association of REALTORS® has given KCRAR permission to use its Spanish handbook as a template.
Marketing and REALTOR® education: KCRAR has set aside funds to publicize these new programs to REALTORS® and to the community at large, in the hope of attracting both new homebuying clients and new KCRAR members. It will also provide a new benefit, educating REALTORS® about how to develop and improve business relationships with Hispanic clients.
In all, these efforts have taken roughly half of Johnson’s time and a budget of about $7,000 from the Association in 2004. KCRAR expects to spend an amount in 2005 that is commensurate with the program’s success.
Outcomes
Standardized forms should be translated in early 2005, and Johnson reports that REALTORS® are already excited to have them. “I’ve presented this to different groups of REALTORS®,” she says. “They weren’t aware of how much this population is growing, so it’s been a real eye-opener for our members to learn about this expanding market.”
Contact
Cristalle Johnson, Public Policy Coordinator
913/498-0018
cristallej@kcrar.com
www.kcrar.com
