With the 2024 presidential race among the many tightest in reminiscence, lots of of brokers and brokers advised Inman the actual property business is encountering prickly conditions amid a contentious election.
This report was initially revealed on Oct. 21, 2024, completely for subscribers of Intel, the information and analysis arm of Inman. Subscribe to Inman Intel for a deeper evaluation of the enterprise of actual property.
Intel survey outcomes are clear: For many actual property brokers and brokerage leaders, the 2024 election discourse doesn’t actually have an effect on their day-to-day expertise.
Showings go on, affords get submitted, shoppers shut, and brokers receives a commission — no matter whether or not they agree on what ought to occur in Washington, D.C.
However as the 2 main events current more and more conflicting visions for the nation’s future — and even competing accounts of its latest previous — some brokers report that circumstances of political stress with shoppers have gotten much less uncommon.
And a few brokers say they’ve seen it spill over into friction throughout the brokerage itself.
Many brokers — almost half of these surveyed in late September and early October by the Inman Intel Index — say their shoppers carry up politics, in comparison with just one in 5 who say their shoppers by no means elevate the subject.
In late September and early October, lots of of brokers and brokerage leaders shared with Intel who they plan to help in November, and what their expertise has been with shoppers and brokerage staff members.
Their responses make clear an business that sometimes bends over to keep away from private disagreements getting in the way in which of a deal.
The outcomes additionally reveal how two distinct experiences — that of a Donald Trump-supporting actual property skilled, and that of a Kamala Harris-supporting agent or dealer — typically diverge.
Learn the complete breakdown within the report under.
The agent-client relationship
Whether or not it occurs at a displaying or in one other setting, it’s clear that many brokers run into shoppers who’re loose-lipped about their political beliefs, particularly on a presidential election yr.
And whereas most actual property professionals see little distinction in 2024 vs. 2020, a couple of quarter of agent respondents advised Intel that election speak is inflicting extra points with shoppers than final time.
A large majority of agent respondents — 2 in 3 — stated this election is placing no extra pressure on the agent-client relationship than the 2020 election did.
However of brokers who say they’ve seen a change, those that noticed the strain is larger this yr outnumber almost 4-to-1 those that say it’s much less tense than they bear in mind 4 years in the past.
As talked about above, it’s not unusual for the subject of politics to return up whereas on a displaying with a shopper.
That stated, regardless of occasional circumstances the place stress bubbles below the floor, brokers of all political stripes are inclined to handle the scenario fairly than stoke battle.
Solely 2 p.c of agent respondents stated they really feel comfy weighing in after a shopper shares a political opinion with which they disagree.
Alternatively, 48 p.c of agent respondents stated they “almost always” preserve their opinion to themselves when their shopper shares a political opinion that doesn’t align with the agent’s beliefs.
Nonetheless, this leaves the door open for political conversations of a unique nature: one the place a shopper raises a degree that the agent agrees with.
23 p.c of agent respondents advised Intel that when they study their shoppers share their views, the agent then feels comfy weighing in with their very own opinions.
However a share almost as massive — 18 p.c — will virtually all the time avoid sharing political beliefs even after they suppose their shoppers would possibly agree with them.
However this form of shopper dialogue isn’t the one method the election has seeped into the brokerage expertise.
The broker-agent relationship
Dealer-owners and executives are much less prone to report that politics is a standard subject of dialogue on the brokerage degree.
About 1 in 3 brokerage leaders who replied to the Intel Index in September stated that their brokers sometimes carry up politics, vs. 1 in 7 who say their brokers virtually by no means carry up the subject.
Inside the partitions of the brokerage, nonetheless, executives and broker-owners are a lot much less prone to preserve their mouths shut after they hear a political opinion from an agent that they disagree with.
Solely 20 p.c of brokerage chief respondents advised Intel that they “almost always” preserve their opinions to themselves when an agent shares a political stance that they disagree with, in contrast with 48 p.c of brokers who stated the identical of their interactions with shoppers.
An identical share of brokerage leaders — 20 p.c — advised Intel that they really feel comfy weighing in to disagree with an agent’s political opinion, in comparison with the two p.c of brokers who say the identical of their shopper interactions.
This freer perspective is sensible. The broker-agent relationship is far more acquainted than the client-agent one. And when a political dialogue between agent and dealer turns south, it’s unlikely to jeopardize a deal from the dealer’s perspective.
Apparently, some brokers consider that this election has been much less disruptive on the brokerage degree than the competition in 2020.
11 p.c of brokerage leaders advised Intel that this election has positioned much less pressure on the broker-agent relationship than they bear in mind taking place in 2020.
Nonetheless, these leaders are outnumbered by the 25 p.c who stated this election has precipitated extra stress than final time, and the 63 p.c who stated it’s been about the identical.
These takeaways mirror common circumstances each throughout the brokerage and out within the area.
However Intel additionally discovered distinct variations in the way in which that Trump supporters and Harris supporters have interaction with politics of their actual property enterprise.
2 brokerage experiences
Most brokers who replied to the Intel Index this month don’t have a transparent concept of the place their typical shopper falls on the political spectrum.
However of those that do, some patterns emerged within the survey.
Brokers who plan to vote for Harris are…
…extra prone to really feel out of step with their shoppers’ political views — 23 p.c of Harris supporters say they understand their shoppers are extra conservative than they’re, in comparison with solely 11 p.c of Trump supporters say they understand their shoppers are extra liberal than they’re.
…and extra prone to report an “unwelcome tension” when their shoppers carry up politics — 11 p.c of Harris supporters report feeling such stress, whereas solely 3 p.c of Trump supporters say the identical.
In the meantime, some patterns of habits with shoppers gave the impression to be extra prevalent amongst Trump-supporting brokers within the survey.
Brokers who plan to vote for Trump are…
…extra prone to say their shoppers carry up politics with them — 51 p.c of Trump supporters say this of their shoppers, in comparison with solely 45 p.c of Harris supporters. On a associated observe, solely 15 p.c of Trump supporters say their shoppers by no means carry up politics, in comparison with 26 p.c of Harris supporters who say the identical.
…and extra prone to report that political interactions with shoppers are getting extra tense — 31 p.c of Trump supporters say politics have been a supply of better stress with shoppers in 2024 than they bear in mind from 2020, in comparison with 21 p.c of Harris supporters who report the identical expertise.
Subsequent week, Intel will go deeper into the outcomes of the Inman-Dig Insights client survey, inspecting shopper behaviors and attitudes towards the actual property business by way of the lens of help for Harris and help for Trump.
Electronic mail Daniel Houston
