Survey: LGBT people fear discrimination when buying homes
Jun 4, 2015, 2:16 PM | Updated: 2:17 pm
With a headline-making “Vanity Fair” magazine spread and a former home now up for sale, Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, has suddenly become hot property in the headlines and on the real estate market.
But what about less recognized home buyers and sellers in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community? What has been their experience in buying and selling a home?
Based on responses from a new poll, it appears there is still plenty to fear out there for the LGBT community.
Caitlyn’s transgendered celebrity might be an added attraction for some potential buyers and fans of her reality TV family on “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” but a high percentage of LGBT people — 73 percent — said the fear of detraction is much more the reality for non-TV families like themselves.
Respondents to the LGBT Home Buyer and Seller Survey cited discrimination from neighbors, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, landlords and others involved in the home buying process as a major concern for them.
More than 80 percent believe the U.S. Supreme Court could shelter LGBTs from these concerns. A ruling for marriage equality would make them feel more fiscally protected and fuel the confidence necessary to drive a strong real estate market, according to the survey.
Conducted by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, responses for the survey came from more than 1,700 people nationwide.
Meantime, for those looking to keep up with the Kardashians — and the Jenners, as it were — the Calabasas, California home once owned by the former Olympian and his ex-wife, Kris, was put on the market the same day Bruce made his debut as Caitlyn.
The home’s current owner is asking for almost $2.6 million for the 4,600-square-foot estate, according to the Los Angeles Times. The listing doesn’t exactly hide the fact the home had famous occupants either.
It reads, in part, “Nearly total privacy is offered in this wonderful newer home, which has a very interesting celebrity ownership history.”
The Jenners lived in the home from 2004 to 2006.
Join Realtor Diane Brennan for That Real Estate Show Sundays at 8 a.m. on KTAR News 92.3 FM.
