Does Gender Bias Exist in Real Estate Sales?

In real estate the trend is female and lending is male. Doesn't matter how  or why it happened. it just is what it is.

Have a great day

Tony

There is gender bias everywhere, not just real estate. I know good and bad agents on both sides of the gender fence. I seem to recall a posting where a caller asked for a man. I am biased towards women when it comes to attorneys- most of the lawyers I refer are women, because they aren't so confrontational and they are well organized. But by their own admission if there is a physical issue with the house they aren't much help. 

I have worked with both men and women and just like any religion you find good and bad people. I think we should be open minded and just check out those we want to work with thoroughly.

Having been in the business in three different states over the past 29 years, I have to say that I believe there is some gender bias, but that bias comes from the eyes of the consumer, not our peers.

I personally do not care either way but if I were to do this business all over  again in another life, I definitely would rather do it as a woman.

Marte,

I think the bias has gone down quite a bit from the late 80's.  Back then, I had a male partner.  If we went on a listing presentation together, the male head-of-the-household would address all questions to him.  But I know longer have a partner and I do quite well.  I think the public is use to dealing with women now. (It only took us a couple of hundred years!)

Very interesting----

At first I had thought the writing was within the industry.  As in I work long hours to be successful and my family gripes (from time to time).  If it were my husband running his own business and working long hours would the same go?  More than likely not.  I say this only because he was prior military and was gone alot, and although I griped....it was in private and I tried hard to not play the guilt card.

We have more women in our office then men, but that is shifting slightly and it's good!  Some of the men went for more traditional-steady paying careers as the market shifted, and their counterparts stayed in real estate.

Good stuff!  Thanks-----

I don't think there is any bias in my area.

Interesting post, no bias here!

Marte,

I don't think it exists in our market area among agents.

Marte- Merry Christmas, just about to head out for desert.  You have a good point there. A shorter woman (or man) might have a harder time also and if you are too good looking that may work against you also. 

I have found as most of us with a couple years on them that you cant judge a book by its cover. 

Interesting post.  I have not experienced blatant sexism in the workplace since the 1980s and I know in all my careers, I have made as much, if not more than, my male colleagues. 

My male partner is my younger brother.  The blessing is that we both have very different personality types that fit with clients. 

We have both been rejected by a client because I was too strong or he wasn't strong enough or because I was a female and he was a male.

We take it all in stride and count our blessings we are family and a team.

As my brother he has a ball telling his friends, "Wait till you meet my sister, she's not one, but two guys trapped in a woman's body!"  I'm just glad he's my business partner and brother!    Joy

Marte - What an interesting topic and even better comments. We are all agents of first impressions. Whether or not we like it or believe it.

I've worked with singles and single widows who reached out to me because I was a woman. They just feel more comfortable being in a presence with a woman when showings houses and riding in a car together. That's very understandable.

At the same time, I could only potentially be "me" - a woman and I'm sure it happens the same to our man co-workers whose preference would be to work with men.

In the past, when I was not an agent and selected an agent to work with, my husband and I selected a very professional, pretty looking woman just based on her photo. Men look sharp in a suit and tie but it's a different presentation when a lady presents herself in a suit (no tie, of course) in a professional photo.

In the end, once the relationship is formed, it doesnt matter if you are a man or woman. It's how you treat them and how you carry yourself that matters.

No one can deny that we are in the first impressions business. That's why we do the things we do.

The fact that woman is in ALL industries but I'm always surprise that Men dominates them. Like chefs too.

My Grandmother got her agents license in 1963 and became a broker in 1968... she was the first WCR president in Colorado... And I believe the first female Broker in Colorado... That being said... At this point I will not participate with the sexist orginization WCR;-) There are more women in Real Estate nationally because as my grandmother said... After 3 years she out earned my grandfather but for those first three years his job paid to put gas in her car to show houses... It is hard to get started in Real Estate and being a second profession in a household makes for an easier beginning... as does the fact that there is a low bar to entry. There are some reasons why men are in many cases a bit more successful at this. Most of the time it has to do with gender roles and the fact that for men this is usually the primary supporting profession. I for example take 2-5 days off for a new baby... my wife on the other hand is out of action for a much longer period with family obligations... My obligation is the house and mortgage... hers falls more to making my kids into responsible adults... Yeah... I know those roles do overlap but in general... This explains why now there are more women than men and in my experience a greater percentage of the top producing agents are men... Again... not to say there are not some incredibly talented and powerful women who are top producing agents...

Drew