Using Your Religon To Sell Real Estate. Is It Kosher?
Selling real estate is all about marketing yourself and your properties. And religion and real estate go back a long way. If you do not believe me let the word get out in your church that you are selling your home and see home many real estate agents come to talk to you at coffee hour.
But proclaiming your religion in your advertising material can be a tricky business. The myriad of anti-discrimination laws governing real estate sales makes using your religion in marketing material a tricky business. If you are too outspoken you run the risk of discriminating against potential clients. Likewise, if you are too circumspect chances are the message will not get through.
HUD states that you can use religious symbols as long as you include a disclaimer that you do not discriminate on faith.
My question is, if you are a person of faith, how do you convey this to your clients via marketing and advertising? If I was to do so, it would be through a blog and my about page. I would highlight my activities in my church or synagogue so that my actions would speak louder than my marketing.
In recent years, an increasing number of real estate agents have begun using Christian messages to market their businesses — either by incorporating religious symbols in their ads and Web sites or by joining Christian referral networks. But some worry whether these tactics could violate the law, even if unintentionally.
Christian marketing is nothing new, but in real estate the idea has gained traction only over the past decade. The nation’s largest faith-based real estate association, the Christian Real Estate Network, formed in 2002, has grown to roughly 1,600 members. The Colorado-based organization refers customers to agents in their area whom it has screened to make sure they run a reliable business.
ad_iconChristians certainly aren’t alone in faith-based real estate marketing. In Michigan, a few agents have begun marketing themselves to the state’s strictly observant Muslims, who need special financing to get around Islam’s ban on interest. For Jews, there is Kosher Connection. Decorated with a dreidel as well as crossed American and Israeli flags, the Web site promises to connect users to Jewish real estate agents around the world. via  washingtonpost.com.
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Comment by Moxley Team on 28 October 2008:
Every marketer needs a niche. It is a fine line when religion comes into play.
Comment by blackfoot on 20 November 2008:
Religious affinity fraud also continues to be a widespread problem. And swindlers who prey upon people of their own religion come in all denominations. Some elderly investors were duped into buying bogus promissory notes by three men, two insurance agents and an investment adviser, who often got on their knees and prayed with their victims to gain their trust.
Comment by Jodi Suguitan on 5 December 2008:
Promoting yourself based on your religious orientation seems to me like playing with fire. You may be loosing potential clients who do not share your religious views. On the other hand you could identify a niche market and create a strong branded following for yourself. When advising an overtly religious seller how to decorate and prepare their home to be listed you may be presented by the same conundrum. Do you have them sterilize the home of any religious affiliation in fear you may alienate buyers? Or do you have them leave the home as is and hope to attract a like minded buyer? I would be surprised to hear an agent advise a client to step their religious overtness up a level or two. The same litmus test could be used to determine the religious elements of an agents’ image.
Comment by Jessica Wynn Horton on 6 December 2008:
I am a person of faith, but my faith is very private. It’s between me and God – nobody else. Prosperity is a person and not a thing and I don’t have to flaunt religion to get business.
My experience with people that flaunt their faith is very bi-polar: very, very great or very, very, VERY bad.
The more often and louder a person says, “Halleluiah” to me in business, the more it usually means: How do I screw ya. At least that has been my experience.