For decades, real estate was considered a man’s world; so much so that by the 1980s it was unthinkable for a woman to even buy real estate without a male co-signer. The gender’s formal foray was in 1910 when the first female agent joined the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Today, many female professionals lead the industry in several countries thanks to their high level of empathy and persistence, which leads to a higher rate of customer satisfaction and sales actually completed.
While many careers require women to choose between long working hours or to devote time to loved ones, Real Estate shows a flexibility and independence that allows them to do both comfortably without sacrificing their independence, time or stability. However, Real Estate shows a flexibility and independence that allows them to accomplish both goals comfortably without sacrificing their independence, time or stability; all they need is a phone and a laptop, especially a desire to be entrepreneurial and help others accomplish their goals.
Togetherness is #GirlPower Real Estate
Meanwhile, in the Spanish-speaking market, there are still some avant-garde proposals such as the non-profit organisation Wires, an acronym for Women In Real Estate or Mujeres en el Mercado Inmobiliario, which serves as a platform and meeting point to improve or promote the professional role of women in this business. They also have a mentoring programme where Wires members share their knowledge and experience with women in the sector who have potential but are not yet in management positions or have not yet developed their entrepreneurship to 100%.
In the Dominican Republic there is a club called Mujeres Inmobiliarias (Real Estate Women) which has established a cooperation network focused on providing the necessary advice and tools for the personal and professional growth of its members. It also participates in activities or campaigns of Social Responsibility with some institutions or foundations in the Caribbean island.
The search for professional recognition of women in Real Estate is also the goal of AMPSI, the Association of Professional Women in Real Estate. Since its foundation in 2013, this association has achieved a presence in 11 communities.
Columnist Nidhi Sancheti notes in her article for Entrepreneur magazine, women outnumber men by 50 per cent in real estate, bringing a whole new dimension to the traditionally male-dominated sector. Sancheti also points out that there are cases where some executives have quit their corporate jobs to join their wives’ real estate ventures. For example, “Kim Howard, recognising her passion for sales, tapped into her entrepreneurial spirit to found her own real estate firm Howard Homes Chicago, and it wasn’t long before she recruited an important employee for her business: her husband”.
There’s still some ground to conquer in heels
A special report published in the Real Estate Community shows that although the ground gained by women in the Real Estate sector is important, there are still objectives to be achieved. This is what Alejandra Covello, one of the leading real estate agents in the Argentinean market, says, who considers that the pending challenges “have to do with the evolution towards the professionalisation of this career – although we are already on that path – and in the valuation of women for executive or managerial positions, without this implying the resignation of the feminine. It has to be something natural and to be achieved through evolution so that in time we no longer have to talk about these issues“.
While real estate agent Dina Crusizio says that the goals are the same as in other businesses: “professionalisation, ongoing training and the incorporation of new technologies, in this sense there are no differences with men. It seems to me that this is a sector that does not discriminate or differentiate, where women have the same place as men. I don’t think there are more challenges in this sector than in others. We have to continue to gain ground, but I think the sector has room for women“.
In the United States, approximately 3 million households are supported by Latinas, who in some states earn up to 61 cents less for every dollar earned by men, a reality that reflects the wage gap in the country and that 37% of Americans are unaware of. “It’s not just equal pay, Latinas have a worse experience in the workplace, are promoted more slowly, face more barriers to advancement and get less support“, these are some of the conclusions of the study Beyond Wages: Effects of the Latina Wage Gap, released on Wednesday and made by the organisations LeanIn.Org.
