At Home With Diversity
Course Credits:
- This course will give students the At Home with Diversity certification.
- Counts as one elective course to be applied towards the RSPS Certification
- Counts as one REBAC elective course to be applied towards the ABR® designation.
- Credit towards the CIPS Designation.
- Students who have taken At Home with Diversity after 1/1/05 receive Eight Elective credits towards the CRS Designation.
- Credit towards NAR's Performance Management Network Designation through Women's Council of REALTORS®
Duration: 1 Day
Format: Classroom, Online
The At Home With Diversity® course is part of a comprehensive cultural diversity outreach program that will help real estate companies diversify their workplaces and improve the industry's ability to serve culturally diverse consumers. NAR and HUD undertook a joint effort in 1998 to certify real estate professionals who are trained regarding cultural diversity and outreach and have made a commitment to a set of diversity principles. The training, built on the letter and spirit of the Fair Housing Act, provides participants with tools to build diversity outreach into their business plans to best serve a dynamic and growing market. This course is available to all professionals involved in the real estate transaction.
At Home With Diversity® is an educational experience designed to present a picture of the changing face of the real estate industry. More importantly, the class teaches REALTORS® how to work effectively with and within a rapidly changing multicultural market.
Course Objective
The course has two major objectives.
- Heighten awareness of and sensitivity to the social and cultural constituencies of local real estate markets. Participants will learn about the people who make up the local market, along with their values, customs, real estate needs, and expectations of real estate professionals.
- Provide practical skills and tools to increase the professionalís effectiveness in servicing all social groups. Specifically, the course builds skills in cross-cultural communication and strategic business planning.
This course consists of five sections.
Course Outline
Chapter 1: Embracing Diversity
Upon completion of this section, the student will be able to:
- Discuss the importance of defining diversity in our businesses and lives and how researching demographic information can assist with better understanding of cultural and communication dynamics among diverse consumers.
- Explain how sensitivity to diverse cultures leads to inclusion, which increases business.
- Discuss how honesty and loyalty are valued differently among different cultures.
- Describe the many stereotypes and misconceptions people can have among segments of our diverse population.
Chapter 2: Fair Housing and Diversity
Upon completion of this section, the student will be able to:
- Discuss the One America Principles and fair housing concepts, including steering, predatory lending, and the REALTOR® Fair Housing Declaration.
- Describe the Philosophy of Inclusion and the approach it provides to lead to a positive regard for all individuals.
- Describe the Equal Professional Service Model, which guides agents to systematically obtain and use objective information, allows their customers to set the limits, and ultimately offers a variety of choices to the consumer.
- Analyze and answer questions about fair housing cases that have been adjudicated in court.
Chapter 3: Exploring Cultural Attitudes and Differences
Upon completion of this section, the student will be able to:
- Discuss the significance of understanding variations in cul‚tural attitudes and practices.
- Explain the influence of culture on the home-buying process.
- Understand verbal and nonverbal communication from both functional and affective perspectives and within high- and low-context cultures.
- Demonstrate examples of cultures through role-playing in these categories: self and space, time and time consciousness, relationships, and communication and language.
- Demonstrate appropriate business etiquette and cultural business do's and dont's.
Chapter 4: Inclusive Multicultural Marketing
Upon completion of this section, the student will be able to:
- Summarize the importance of understanding the local market by looking at it from various perspectives, including cultural, age, buying power, and economic.
- Indentify sources of local demographic information, and use the information to help determine the status of the local market.
- Review and analyze a sample case study, and apply those analytical techniques to a local market.
- Review and discuss the dynamics of multicultural marketing and understand how culture, advertising, and fair housing laws influ‚ence media (radio, print, TV, internet, and community outreach).
- Analyze a case study dealing with discrimination in advertising.
Chapter 5: Your Inclusive Business Plan
Upon completion of this section, the student will be able to:
- List business goals that reflect the One America principles.
- Summarize the variables within an inclusive business plan: The people involved, the resources at your disposal, the real estate services you provide, and the plan's structural components.
- Develop strategies for both you and your firm that reflect a commitment to inclusiveness.
- Produce an action plan, including specific tasks and completion dates, to guide implementation of your business plan.
