Ryan Gorman, President and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Booker Pickett, broker/owner of Coldwell Banker Pickett Fences in Land O’Lakes, Florida discuss Coldwell Banker’s new inclusive ownership program, challenges for brokers and building a brokerage that serves underrepresented potential homebuyers.
Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Ryan Gorman, President and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Booker Pickett, broker/owner of Coldwell Banker Pickett Fences in Land O’Lakes, Florida. In this interview, Gorman discusses the challenges and barriers for minority brokers and a new program aimed at giving them a hand up. Pickett recently signed up for the program. He’ll discuss the challenges he’s faced building his brokerage and his special focus on underserved communities.
Here is a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:
Tracey Velt: I want to talk about homeownership barriers. I love that your mission to be a beacon of light and hope for those who dream of owning a home, but don’t think home ownership is possible, and that you serve a lot of underserved communities. How did that mission come about and what is the culture of your brokerage?
Booker Pickett: I decided a long time ago that I would be a servant of my community. I would serve the community that raised me, and it takes a village. I would stay true to that community. I also wanted to do something to combat the barriers that people in my community were facing. For some people in the underserved communities, they’re completely discouraged from even attempting to start the process of home ownership. I realized that a lot of this stems from decades of mistrust, exploration, red lining in these communities.
When I created Picket Fences Realty, I wanted our mission to be something that would educate and inspire people in my community. We wanted to be that beacon of light and that hope for the underserved. We have our agents share stories to people that think they can’t buy homes, that think that home ownership is not for them. We use that as inspiration for those and for that next generation of buyers. It’s been working out pretty well for us.
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If you like this podcast, check out Honest Conversations by Alcynna Lloyd. Honest Conversations is a miniseries on minority homeownership hosted by HousingWire Digital Media Manager Alcynna Lloyd. The podcast aims to examine the state of minority homeownership in America.
