Black people have the lowest homeownership rate in America, but one local association is working to change that.
“And there’s a huge gap here in northwest Ohio,” said Rob Pasker, 36, president of Greater Toledo Realtist Association and broker with eXp Realty in Toledo.
Born and raised in Toledo, after receiving his real estate license in Columbus in 2014, Mr. Pasker — who is also a real estate appraiser and housing counselor — was compelled to come back home and work toward closing that gap.
Upon his return, he became the only active Realtist in the northwest Ohio region, a title carried by real estate professionals that are a part of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, or NAREB.
With the knowledge and tools he gathered from NAREB, Mr. Pasker embarked on a journey to establish a Realtist Board in northwest Ohio. In 2019, he chartered the Greater Toledo Realtist Association, which has grown from 13 to 41 members.
“A Realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors but they didn’t let Black realtors into the association until the ’70s, so they boxed us out of the industry,” he said. “So without them allowing us access into the MLS [Multiple Listing Service], we weren’t able to market our properties on the level that they were able to market their properties.”
In 1947, due to a history of blatant unfair housing practices in America, African-American real estate professionals formed NAREB with the goal of creating a more level playing field for Black people in real estate, thereby fostering Black economic empowerment.
“Booker T. Washington said, ‘Let’s build up our own economy,’ and so he brought different Black professionals from all disciplines together,” Mr. Pasker said.
With the mission of creating fair housing or democracy in housing, the group worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to advocate for open housing laws and the Fair Housing Act, he explained.
“The last U.S. census showed the white homeownership rate in northwest Ohio was 76 percent while the Black homeownership rates were only 36 percent, and 41 percent for Latinos,” Mr. Pasker said.
Through education and advocacy, Mr. Pasker is working to stimulate economic empowerment and generational wealth within Black and other underserved communities with a focus on making homeownership a tangible goal for northwest Ohio’s marginalized people.
“Homeownership is the biggest source of net worth for most Americans,” Mr. Pasker said. “So by helping them secure homeownership, we’re essentially helping them build their net worth, build wealth, create more opportunities, build more businesses, get more children educated at higher levels, and enrich our community.”
He and his leadership team of real estate professionals embrace the vision of democracy in housing and Black economic empowerment through real estate. They have a combined mission to “elevate the community, build wealth, level the playing field, and even to make the association a household name.”
“We’ve worked to educate our community on the benefit of homeownership, what it takes, how to build their financial profile, budgeting, saving, how to get a loan and what type of down-payment assistance is out there,” he said.
“In addition to educating our community, we advocate with our elected officials to put together laws and programs to open those doors,” Mr. Pasker said.
Kimberly Dixon, first vice president of the association and realtor with Howard Hanna, said that breaking down the math regarding homeownership versus renting can be eye-opening.
“Coming from 25 plus years of property management, watching people make the owners richer and paying more for rent than they would as opposed to a mortgage, it’s a no-brainer once you sit them down and show them the numbers,” she said.
To educate and encourage homeownership, Mr. Pasker manages a HUD-approved housing counseling agency in Toledo, where the group provides both in-person and virtual monthly homebuyer education and free counseling to the community.
“People that go through our homebuyer education program get their certificates that they can use to get down-payment assistance like the city of Toledo Welcome Home funds, and different grants and loans from banks,” he explained.
As president-elect of Greater Toledo Realtist Association, DeLisa Moore said her first goal and vision are to grow the organization’s membership and encourage women to become more successful in real estate.
“We’re head of household most of the time, single mothers or just women on our own, so we need to have an avenue to where we can help each other grow,” said Ms. Moore, who is also a Realtor with Danberry.
“I want to help women in real estate grow and not only that, but also I want more community presence,” she said.
The ultimate goal of the association, Mr. Pasker said, is to “build the Black homeownership, which builds our community's wealth.”
“But we want to do more than that. We need more diversity in the real estate industry,” he said. “We need more brokers of color. We need more appraisers of color. We need more developers — because the biggest issue that we’re seeing in the market is that with inventory being so low, people that are buying these affordable price ranges are being beat out by cash offers that are primarily from people from outside the state.”
In a social media post, Mr. Pasker shared his sentiments and goals for the year: “I’m proud to stand with my fellow Realtists who have come together to open doors for northwest Ohio’s marginalized people,” he wrote. “We educate our community, advocate on their behalf, and elevate our businesses.”
“As a group, we will make history this year,” he added.
Most Popular
Comments / 0