BROADCASTS.com

b"With Terry Story, 26-year veteran Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, FL

A real estate agent is a good source of information for the home seeker, but it\\u2019s important to know where the line is drawn. Terry Story says there are certain loaded questions that you should avoid asking and that any savvy agent will avoid answering.
Buyers will always want to know about the quality of the neighborhood: Is it good, is it safe, and what kind of people are on the block\\u2014questions that would require an answer that may violate discrimination laws. The agent also has to be on guard for \\u201ctesters\\u201d, those people who are fishing around for infractions in this area that could jeopardize an agent\\u2019s career. Terry advises that many of these questions, such as the crime rate of an area, can be found easily on the internet.
Another issue of discrimination that might occur concerns homeowner association rules.\\xa0 Any alteration to existing regulations which interferes with a person\\u2019s religious practices could be viewed as discriminatory. One example of this comes from a reader in the Sun Sentinel who worried that the mandatory use of an electric key fob to gain access to his community would violate his religious beliefs on the Sabbath. In such instances, the problem would have to be solved through his HOA or condo association.
So when it comes to speaking with your realtor, do some online advance research and don\\u2019t put him or her in an uncomfortable position.
Read The Entire Transcript HereCollapse Transcript
Steve Pomeranz: It's time for Real Estate Round-up.\\xa0 This is the time every single week we get together with noted real estate agent, Terry Story. Terry is a 26-year veteran with Coldwell Banker located in Boca Raton, Florida.\\xa0 Welcome back to the show, Terry.
Terry Story: Thanks for having me, Steve.
Steve Pomeranz: The life of a real estate agent.\\xa0 People are always asking you questions, of course, about the home.
Terry Story: Everything.
Steve Pomeranz: Everything.\\xa0 Everything.\\xa0 However, there are certain questions that I think should not be asked of a real estate agent.\\xa0 Talk to us about that.
Terry Story: Sure.\\xa0 You can't expect agents to answer these loaded questions, and people ask them all the time.\\xa0 Is this a good neighborhood?\\xa0 Is this a safe neighborhood?\\xa0 Are the schools good?\\xa0 What type of people live here?\\xa0 Worse is when they specifically ask, can you show us a neighborhood where there's a large number of \\u201cfill in the blank\\u201d?\\xa0 We have to adhere by national housing laws, the Fair Housing Act, and we can't answer these questions because of discrimination laws.\\xa0 Just don't ask the agents these questions.
Steve Pomeranz: Again, some of these are so subjective when someone asks you if this is a good neighborhood.\\xa0 That could be a code word for something.
Terry Story: It could be a code word.\\xa0 For someone, it may be a code word, but it is very subjective.\\xa0 What I think is a good neighborhood, Steve, and you think is a good neighborhood aren't necessarily one in the same.\\xa0 It puts agents in a very funny position.\\xa0 Is it a safe neighborhood?\\xa0 Those are things that are easy to look up.
A lot of these answers to these questions, Steve, a buyer can find out fairly easy on the internet.\\xa0 We're not really allowed to direct you to what sites to go to per se, but I can tell you that a lot of the cities have their own websites that talk about crime statistics.\\xa0 Certainly, you can pull up the school ratings in any of the \\u2026\\xa0 just Google the names of the schools and they'll show you, in many cases, charts and graphs.\\xa0 They grade the schools on a variety of categories.\\xa0 If you are concerned about the schools, go visit the schools.\\xa0 Learn for yourself, is this a good school for my child?
The one I get all the time,"