Hispanics create new real estate needs, opportunities

The last eight years have seen a significant increase in the number of Hispanic residents, and this influx has had an impact on the local real estate market. More Spanish-speaking people are buying homes in the area than ever before, resulting in an ever-increasing demand for bilingual real estate services.

Seeing the need for these services, Zamora separated from his previous employer, Indy Wallace Realtors, and started his own company, Familia Real Estate LLC. Familia has been operating for only two months, but expansion is rapid.

“It almost seems like there’s no limitation; (it’s about) just having that niche where you can communicate in more than one language,” Zamora said. “It’s practically a necessity when it comes to real estate. A lot of people are requiring it or requesting it.”

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies has determined that 31 percent of American households established between 2000 and 2010 will be Hispanic and 13 percent will be Asian.

Zamora’s long-term goal is to create a network of services available to people for whom English is a second language. With that in mind, Familia readily hires agents who are bilingual in any language. Right now, the focus is on Hispanics since they represent the largest demographic to be served. In the future, Zamora hopes to assist the growing Vietnamese, Korean and Russian communities in the area.

Not the first

Although Familia is the newest real estate company to set a specified goal of serving Hispanics and other minorities, it is by no means the only place to which native Spanish-speakers can turn. Several established real estate agencies have recognized the need for bilingual agents.

Carol Jones, Realtors has been working with the Hispanic community for several years. Bilingual agent Patricia Coon pointed out that, although many Hispanic people are fluent or can speak some English, it is better if they can conduct transactions in their own language because of the business-specific terminology that is used.

For the same reason, it can be difficult to work through a translator.

“Sometimes their own children help them to translate, but since most of their children have been born in this country, they do not exactly translate some words to Spanish,” Coon said.

She also pointed out that many Hispanic people move here for the same reasons that other people move here: the lower cost of living and housing.

“Many of them have been homeowners in other states,” she said, “so when they come here, the first thing that they do is look for a place to live. They are ready to buy a house.”

The Missouri Association of Realtors has taken its own steps toward cultural diversity. A recent deal with Immobel.com will soon provide free translation services for all MAR members.

The new program will translate web-based home listings into 12 languages, making it easier for non-native English speakers to buy and sell their homes using their company’s web sites.

Financial help

Increasingly, banks and mortgage companies are also seeing a need for bilingual help. Mac-Clair Mortgage Corp. employs bilingual lenders in addition to offering several other services geared toward the Hispanic population such as one-on-one counseling to help people through the process of purchasing a home and first-time buyer seminars in Spanish.

Eric Meruelo, Mac-Clair’s regional branch manager, has spent years assisting Hispanics in Springfield and Branson.

“We have seen a tremendous increase of business with the people we are helping to obtain home ownership,” he said. “It has been a great reward to see them purchasing their home with the loan programs we have available.”

Similar training classes are also given by Great Southern Bank, which has offered bilingual mortgage and other banking services since 2001.

“Great Southern has made a commitment to the market, because that’s a huge growing market that is currently underserved,” said Kim Warren, director of residential lending.

The bank has a full-time mortgage employee dedicated to bilingual services.

Additionally, a Spanish training class will take place on June 20 at the Great Southern Operations Center on South Glenstone. The presentation will cover how to manage finances, how to prepare for a home loan, how the mortgage process works and other first-time buyer concerns.

Great Southern has offered similar classes in the past in collaboration with the Urban Neighborhood Alliance, but this will be the first class offered entirely by the bank.