Start With A Win - Growth Trends in the LGBT Community with Jeff Berger

Starting point is 00:00:00 Every day is filled with choices. You're here because you're choosing to start with a win. Get ready to be inspired, learn something new, and connect with the WinNation. And hello, WinNation. It's Adam Kanto, CEO of Remax, and another amazing episode of Start With a Win. Here we are in our remote studios and calling it out even before it starts. Whoa. It's another amazing one. Another amazing... Yeah. I'm looking forward to this one. I've got a friend of mine on today that is just a really, really cool guy. Mark, this is going to forward to this one. I've got a friend of mine on today that is just a really, really cool guy. Mark, this is going to be a good one.

Starting point is 00:00:48 I'm excited. Who do we got today? So we have the president and CEO and founder of NAGLE Rep, the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals. Jeff Berger is on with us. How are you doing, Jeff? I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure. And you and I haven't seen each other for a little while. I mean, last time was in the gym in Palm Springs. I hope you're doing well since then. I trust that you are. Yes, doing very well. Keeping my positive frame of mind and doing great. We have to do great. I love your attitude, man. It's awesome. Let's dig right into this. I love your

Starting point is 00:01:25 organization. Okay. So established in 2007. Why don't you give us some history on Nagel Rep? How and why was it formed? Well, it's a great question. When I formed the organization, there's a pretext. And prior to 2007, when I founded Nagel Rep, I was doing LGBT marketing, digital, online. It was back in 2004, I started a website called gayrealtynet.com just by coincidence, because I knew real estate is where a great market was, very dynamic niches. And I wanted to dig into a niche. And ironically, my website was written up in the Chicago Tribune. If you see it, it says entrepreneurs reaching realty niches through the net. And I want to share with you because it really is so important that Remax actually touched my life. And sometimes you

Starting point is 00:02:18 see something, you know, you could be walking in the street and you get that light bulb. And here's what happens. So the article starts, David Shallow isn't one of those real estate agents who worries that the internet is going to hurt his business. Now what's important right now is the date of this article is December 26, 2004. Wow. Okay. Where you were in 2004, right? Yeah. Where was marketing? And no wonder Shallow and Agent with Remax Professional

Starting point is 00:02:46 Select in Naperville had listed his contact information for just two weeks on game realty net.com when a client living in New Mexico found his name and number on the site. That's what every realtor wants, you know, from their advertising, right? Right. Oh yeah. That's,'s i mean win right there yeah so the client who logged on to game realty net.com an online database of gay and lesbian real estate agents read shallow's profile thought he'd be the right agent for her and asked him to sell the home she owned in chicago shallow took the listing and sold the home more than paying for the fee, gainrealtynet.com charges to be included in the database. Wow.

Starting point is 00:03:28 Wynn in real estate is closing the deal, period. There you go. And helping people too. I mean, she needed help. Absolutely. Yeah, she needed that safe agent, that safe space. So when I scrolled down the article and it was really amazing to me,

Starting point is 00:03:44 it said from his office in San Diego, John Beneventi, chief financial officer of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, speaks with pride when he mentions real estate espanol. And the word pride just ticked. You know, it clicked. Excuse me. And I knew right then I had to form the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals. And that's a true story. Wow. It's kind of one of those meant to be things, isn't it? I believe it is. Absolutely. The stars align. You talk about some of the challenges that the gay and lesbian community has in real estate and the feelings that people have of not

Starting point is 00:04:23 understanding the community that they're doing business with, I guess is a good way of putting it. What challenges does a gay and lesbian community face in doing a real estate transaction, searching for homes, community awareness, things like that that you're helping overcome with the association? Well, I think something we've learned more than any time from this current situation we're in now is safe space. And the LGBT community has always needed that safe space. That's why you hear there are LGBT bars. You know, it's just been going on forever. And because of discrimination, the LGBT community is seeking that safe space. And what's amazing about NAGREP, okay, and I think it really stands out from other organizations,

Starting point is 00:05:18 is yes, we do conferences. Yes, we do education. We do a lot of chapter events and things of that sort that, you know, the RE-MAX family can get involved in. But what's really exciting about NAGREP is our website, naglrep.com, is consumer-facing. So we help the LGBT consumer. And that's so important. We help them find their safe space. And I think that's the most important thing that NAGREP does. And when we look at WINS, okay, I love the name of this podcast. And when I think of win, you know, I know every day when I get up for Nagarap, you know, when I get up in the morning, I have my coffee, I work out, I wake up my daughters to school, and I get to work, I know I have to win for the members. Bottom line, you know, I have to bring in business. And I'll share with you, we help so greatly the LGBT community find that safe space. And the way we do it is through our website being consumer facing. And I'll share with you the win goes both ways. It's a win-win. Okay. So nagarep.com receives 75,000 unique

Starting point is 00:06:21 visits per month from LGBT buyers, sellers, members seeking a referral agent, non-members even seeking a referral agent for their LGBT consumers. And we poll through surveys, our members, okay? And our members say that they receive one to three consumer transactions per year from Nagareb. That's not referrals that you pay referral fee on. That's just consumer transactions per year from nagarep that's not referrals that you pay referral fee on that's just consumer transactions so if you do the numbers there are 2800 members of nagarep closing one to three consumer transactions per year just from our directory that receives 75,000

Starting point is 00:06:59 visits per month so if we use a conservative denominator of 1.3 transactions per year, that's 3,700 transactions per year that nagarep.com procures. With a median home price of $270,000, we bring $1 billion in gross sales to our members per year. That's $55,000 gross commissionable income. And we found the consumer safe space. So we are about winning. And we're excited every day. We're serving our customers. We're serving our communities. We're in our realtor associations talking about diversity and inclusion, networking with the biggest brands like you, Adam, and REMAX, sharing our message of diversity and inclusion. It's just exciting. It's a win. I love it, Jeff. I talk a lot about equality and kindness and fairness and fair housing and unconscious bias and things like that that happens in our communities, as well as happening in the housing

Starting point is 00:08:05 industry itself. Whether or not it's intentional or mean in nature, a lot of times it happens. And that's because a lot of times we lack these different mechanisms for education of the community. So you do so much. And your housing report is just fantastic. And we're happy to say that we're a sponsor of the housing report this year. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What kind of information people can find in NAGO Rep's housing report? Yeah. First, again, thank you, REMAX, for sponsoring the LGBT real estate report.

Starting point is 00:08:38 Your support was so important and influential to the community in helping us raise awareness. And a couple of things. You can download the report, by the way, at naglrap.com on our homepage. It's very user-friendly. So if you want to know the current trends of the LGBT community, of homebuyers, sellers, what they're looking for, what their goals are, whether they're up buyers, downsizers, it's all there. Family data. And it's straight from our members, which is exciting. It's actually the members answered a survey, we compiled the data, and we brought it forward in a very user-friendly way. Download it, I

Starting point is 00:09:19 recommend. But most important, I think right now, same-sex marriage, great trends, continues to grow. So what realtors should be aware of is that same-sex marriage is growing exponentially. It used to be years ago, the LGBT community couldn't marry. So a lot of people didn't think about it, but now the LGBT community is moving out to the suburbs. They're getting married. They're not staying necessarily in the gayborhoods, as they called them for so many years. Sixty percent of LGBT millennials want to have children within the next five years. So, you know, people think, you know, oh, I know what LGBT buyers are looking for.

Starting point is 00:10:02 They're looking for a great condo in the city. Well, actually, that may be the case very often, but many of them are looking for a home in the burbs with great schools for their children. I love that. So what other, you know, growth aspects of the LGBT community are you seeing in real estate? Because I know your organization has seen some fantastic growth and, you know and a lot of great movement in the LGBT housing and community development. Any other growth trends you're seeing that you want to share with us? Sure. Well, first, it should be known that the LGBT community has $1 trillion in buying power per year. That's huge.

Starting point is 00:10:41 That's impressive. It sure is. That's a lot. Yeah. Take that into huge. That's impressive. It sure is. That's a lot. Yeah, take that into thought. And remember also, approximately 30% of LGBT families have children. That means 70% don't. So their actual buying power is higher than the other diverse groups. So when you look at the LGBT community, they often can't afford more of a home. And something to think about also, family formation is such a growth opportunity right now. Remember, biology.

Starting point is 00:11:14 Most often, the LGBT community is having children through artificial insemination, through adoption. Those are all expensive processes. These people have money. LGBT families are buying up. They're move-up buyers, excuse me, and they're great clients. They want to work with you. You don't have to be LGBT. That's also important also. 10% of NAGREP members identify themselves as allies. So right there, another growth opportunity, be an ally. I see a lot of affiliation by agents that are not in the gay or lesbian community, but are very,

Starting point is 00:11:53 very close friends to the gay and lesbian community. I see a lot of agents affiliate with NAGLE Rep. And it's interesting because there's a lot of crossover with NAGO rep agents and some of the other major large real estate associations out there like NAREP, the Hispanic real estate professionals, ARIA, the Asian real estate professionals, things like that. It's really cool to see all the different groups in real estate, the different community bases in real estate working together to promote more equality, better standards in this industry. So it's fantastic what you're doing. And I see you working with a lot of the other organizations as well, Jeff. So kudos to you for that, man. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And thanks for recognizing that. And

Starting point is 00:12:42 we can also give kudos to the National Association of Realtors and their diversity program. Absolutely. They brought all these diverse groups together. We met there. This is where it all comes together, the national conferences. We've done great things and we've got so many more great things to continue to do. All right. Hey, Jeff, as we start to kind of wrap the show up here, how can people learn more about serving the LGBT community in real estate? Where do they go for education and guidance? Great question. So, you know, there aren't a lot of sources, but thankfully you're talking to the right person.

Starting point is 00:13:15 Go to nagarec.com, okay? And if you prefer to start elsewhere, you can but you know something that i always did when i started my business and started you know doing the marketing that i'm doing which is very successful is i went to google i saw what others were doing i was never looking to reinvent the wheel that was a little risky but if i saw success that other people were doing i knew i could do it also and isn't that often what real estate is about oh yeah so google gay realtor google gay real estate google l often what real estate is about? Oh, yeah. So Google Gay Realtor, Google Gay Real Estate, Google LGBT Real Estate, Google LGBT Realtor. Think about where that safe space is for your LGBT buyers and sellers. And you know what?

Starting point is 00:13:56 You're going to find Magarep.com at the very top of Google. I do all the SEO. I've done it from the beginning. I continue to do it now. Click over to the site. download the LGBT real estate report. You can join if you want. And what's exciting also is Remax is a corporate partner in Nagarep, and you can join at a discount. Go to nagarep.com forward slash Remax and join at a first year introductory rate of $99. Jeff, we so much appreciate you being on the show. You've done so much for the real estate

Starting point is 00:14:29 community and the LGBT community. So thank you for that. I have a question I ask everybody that's on the show and you touched on it a little bit. So maybe you can give us a little more depth to this question. How do you start your day with a win? Great question. You know, I'm a firm believer in routine. I've just been to so many conferences and I hear it over and over and over. So I start my day at 6.20 a.m. I get in the shower, coffee, gym, freshen up, wake up my kids for school.

Starting point is 00:15:04 Unfortunately, they stay home now. But that's my routine. And then I start my day. And it's been a success. And if I could keep doing that every day and take my vacations, and I always look forward to each day, my next vacation. So I always have my calendar set. And I'm always thinking of how I can work my ass off

Starting point is 00:15:22 and get on that next vacation and come back and do the same thing when I get home. And my vacations have changed a little bit in the future, but I'm going to be back. And that's it. That's the key to my success. That's my win. I love it. Jeff Berger, president, CEO, and founder of Niagara Rep. Thank you so much for being on Start With A Win today. We appreciate all that you do. Thank you for what you do for our industry and the community that we serve. Jeff, thanks a lot.

Starting point is 00:15:52 And thank you for starting with a win. Such a pleasure. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. If you'd like to ask Adam a question or potentially be on our next episode, give us a call and leave us a message at 888-581-4430. Don't forget to go on to iTunes and subscribe, write a review, and rate the show.

Starting point is 00:16:12 It helps us get the word out and reach more people. For more great content, head over to StartWithAWin.com, follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and remember, start with a win.

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Start With A Win - Growth Trends in the LGBT Community with Jeff Berger

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