OUR STORY

The LGBT+ Housing Initiative started as an idea from a meeting of the Keller Williams Rainbow Network at a company event in 2019. The topic was how we can give back to our community. As realtors, one of the ways that we as a group can give back is to encourage home ownership in the LGBTQ+ community. Home ownership in the United States is at 64%. However, in the LGBT+ community that number is 49%. Homeownership is a major part of the American Dream. Our group decided that we needed to put a program together to promote and encourage more of our community to participate in this part of the dream.   

We took a page out of other organizations that encourage homeownership in other communities, like the Hero community. What we agreed to do is to give our LGBT+ homeowners an extra advantage to make owning a home a little easier.  

Here's how it works. If an LGBT+ homebuyer works with one of our agents who participates in the Initiative, that agent agrees to donate 25% of their commission to the LGBT+ Housing Initiative. 20% is then given to the home buyer or seller within 10 days after closing.   

Here is an example: The clients buy or sells a $300,000 home. If the agent’s side on the commission is $9,000, they will donate 25% of the commission ($2,250) to the LGBT+ Housing Initiative. 20% of the 25% (or $1,800), will be given by the LGBT+ Housing Initiative to the client. That client is free to use these proceeds in any way that they see fit. Maybe they will use it for renovations or maybe they will use it to pay the first mortgage payment. This is up to the client.   

The remaining 5% will go into a fund that will be distributed at the end of the year to organizations in the US and Canada, that have a mission to take LGBTQ+ homeless youth off the streets. These are our kids. Many of them have been abandoned by their families because of who they are. Someone needs to help them and there are many organizations all over North America that work very hard to help as many of these forgotten children as possible. These organizations need resources to carry out their missions. The Realtors of the LGBT+ Housing Initiative have made a commitment to help provide resources for these amazing organizations. By working with one of our agents you could very well participate in taking a lost child off the streets, where they sell themselves to survive. Let’s do something about this great disgrace.  

We are all in.