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Focus on business: Marketing real estate to Hispanic clientele

By Lisa Wiltsie
taken from Evansville Business Journal, April 3, 2007

Lisa Wiltsie teaches marketing, management, and business communications courses for the University of Southern Indiana College of Business and serves as advisor for OPTIONS, a joint program of USI and Ivy Tech Community College.

The Hispanic American market consists of clients from various Spanish-speaking cultures regardless of race, including people from some Caribbean, South American and Central American countries. It contains Latino/a, Chicano/a, Hispanic, Mexican, Cuban, and other groups. Many cultural factors exist that can help realtors tailor their pitches to this fast-growing market.

Agents trying to reach any ethnicity must realize the group’s similarities to the general population, and the agent must have a practical knowledge of said group beyond the census numbers. For example, simply translating ads to Spanish is not the most effective way to reach this market.

Present orientation, familial influences, and personalized attention play large roles in the consumption behavior of this culture, so pairing these factors with Spanish-language ads may be beneficial.

The Hispanic culture tends to be brand loyal, and members will go out of their way to purchase from businesses that have demonstrated long-term support of the Hispanic community — not just a one-time Spanish-language ad. Having a present-orientation is a trait of many in the Hispanic market.

No time constraints are placed on the other people in a conversation since those individuals are considered the most important at that time. Therefore, appointments and home tours cannot be rushed.

Present-orientation also means that fairly immediate use of the purchased item is desirable; therefore, a long escrow is not preferred.

The median age for Hispanic Americans is about 10 years younger than the national average age for all ethnicities in the U.S. The average Hispanic American is male and in his mid-twenties. From these figures, a real estate agent can infer that many Hispanic Americans will be first-time homebuyers in the early stages of the traditional household life cycle with children in the home.

In simple surveys of local homeowners of Mexican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan descent, it was discovered that the feature, advantage, and benefit focus of the selling process in the Tri-State should concentrate on a home’s number of bedrooms, garage, eat-in kitchen, in-law suite, open floor plan, carpeted family room (not wooden floors), basement, amount of light/number of windows, and yard with privacy fencing, patio, and trees. These are items also typically cited as wants of the general population.

Like the population at large, when looking at housing preferences, this demographic appreciates homes near churches, parks, and schools since family is extremely important.

However, there are differences in the Hispanic consumption behavior as opposed to the non-Hispanic population. For example, according to a Cornell University study and studies by the Food Marketing Institute, the Hispanic community statistically visits the grocery between four to six times per week, whereas the non-Hispanic public visits the grocery about twice a week; therefore, large kitchen pantries as a selling feature may not be important to many Hispanic homebuyers.

Hispanic people prefer advertisements that feature themes of extended family togetherness, respect for religion, and happy, safe children. Latinos prefer immediate incentives that can be shared by the whole family. For example, knocking dollars from the overall price of a mortgage is not as much an incentive as taking the same amount of money and purchasing a large screen television or dining set for the family’s new home.

Newlyweds may prefer making a down payment for a family home versus a large engagement ring for one individual to wear. How a home will benefit the entire family should be emphasized by the real estate agent.

Since this culture is somewhat hierarchical and prefers indirect communication formats, many Latinos are reluctant to criticize others. Home tours with Hispanic clients may be difficult for the real estate agent to interpret due to the unlikelihood the client will criticize the home of another person, so directed questions should be asked during a tour regarding usage of the home for this specific client’s family needs.

Many Latinos view banking as a very impersonal industry. Latinos are much more likely to bank at a small neighborhood bank because of the personalized attention.

In fact, many Hispanic families are “underbanked,” meaning having limited or no relationship with a financial institution. This situation is especially true fIn fact, many Hispanic families are “underbanked,” meaning having limited or no relationship with a financial institution. This situation is especially true for many first generation Americans who have come from countries where home loans are rare. Therefore as with many first-time buyers, a realtor may have to help the client to navigate the banking process and establish a personalized relationship with a loan officer.

All people have a distinct identity, culture, and preference set with regard to consumption behaviors. A realtor can respond to this set of information to facilitate a home purchase which fits the client’s needs. In the Tri-State, the American dream of home ownership is a goal for people of all cultures. Paying attention to the similarities and differences in a client’s needs, goals, and cultures can lead to a satisfying real estate experience for both realtor and client.