By Lloyd McDonald • Photos Courtesy Melissa Hawley and Mia Rooks
Melissa Hawley and her wife, Mia Rooks, have always had a spirit of giving back. They got involved with real estate while living in Charleston and working as educators. Even though they left the education field in 2013 and became full-time realtors, their passion for education spilled over into their real estate business. After moving to Nashville, they put this passion to work serving the people of Middle Tennessee with zealous representation throughout the entire buying and selling process. While representing clients, they realized many of the disparities in LGBT+ home ownership. Even in the fifty or so years since the Fair Housing Act was passed, there are still disparities, barriers, and biases that need to be resolved.
In 2019, the Keller Williams (KW) Rainbow Network, which is KW’s association of LGBT+ realtors, realized this disparity wasn’t moving in the right direction fast enough and took matters into their own hands by starting the KW LGBT+ Housing Initiative to specifically address the challenges their LGBT+ clients were facing.
The numbers back up what these realtors experienced first-hand while working with clients. According to the 2020-2021 LGBT Real Estate Report, heterosexual people are 20% more likely to own a home and the median age of homeownership for LGBT+ homeowners is 42 (significantly higher than the heterosexual median age of 33), meanwhile, only 11% of LGBT+ people say they prefer renting housing to owning it. After some brainstorming and working out the logistics, the initiative was rolled out in 2021.
Locally, there are ten agents in the KW Rainbow Network, including Hawley and Rooks of the Hawley-Rooks team based out of the KW office in Mount Juliet. Hawley said, “LGBT+ people face three-fold barriers to homeownership, that are less prevalent in the general population.”
First, LGBT+ people are often thrown out or cut off financially by parents after coming out of the closet. This first disadvantage creates and perpetuates the second disadvantage, which is they typically have less in savings or worse credit, making homeownership more costly. Additionally, LGBT+ individuals often have trouble finding professionals with which they are comfortable working. This is because they have to discuss their familial status and other personal topics to ensure a dream home is found.
Rooks added, “This housing initiative and the realtors who are involved are working to address all three of these issues.” They work to stem LGBT+ youth homelessness by donating time and money to local nonprofits, such as the Oasis Center, to help these unhoused youth get off the streets which allows them to focus their efforts on education and job skills. This enables disadvantaged youth, especially in the LGBT+ community, to have greater earning power faster, which will continue to grow as they get older.
The KW LGBT+ Housing Initiative also assists the LGBT+ community through a fund for first-time home buyers that is used to help cover closing costs and other expenses. This is funded by donations from participating agents.
For those LGBT+ homebuyers looking for someone they can feel comfortable working with, they can select an agent within the KW Rainbow Network. This will ensure they are working with an LGBT+ realtor who will listen to their challenges, help them find vendors like maintenance people and loan officers who are LGBT+ friendly, and use their knowledge of the market to help them find the perfect house and bring down barriers in a non-judgmental way.
Hawley concluded by saying, “This initiative is just getting started and if people want to get involved they can work with a participating realtor when they purchase their house or, if they aren’t in the market for a house right now, they can donate money directly to the KW LGBT+ Housing Initiative. If you prefer working with youth, there are volunteer opportunities with nonprofits like The Oasis Center — they also always accept cash, too.”
Further, she said, “If someone wants help with purchasing a house, all they need to do is ask for it. The realtors in the KW Rainbow Network ensure that everyone who works with them receives the help they need, whether it be financial assistance with closing costs, getting connected with good vendors, or just working with a realtor they’re comfortable with.”
Rooks reiterated, “The help is there, all you need to do is ask for it. Buyers’ agents work for you, the buyer, and they are paid by the seller — meaning they don’t get paid until they help you find the house of your dreams and you purchase it. You can reach out to any of us, and we will be happy to ensure that you get the customized representation that you need to make homeownership a reality.”
