Louisville real estate professionals urging more diversity in their career field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With only a handful of minorities in Louisville real estate, one group is hopeful a career fair this weekend will draw more people into the profession.

When it comes to increasing diversity across all real estate occupations, broker Tiffany Williams said it's a must. Currently, only 5% of realtors in Louisville are Black.

"All the other professions, it's probably way less than that," Williams said.

As one of the few Black brokers in the city and the chapter president of The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Williams hopes to change that.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the NAREB is hosting a career fair at Jefferson Community and Technical College's downtown campus with the goal of attracting more minorities to the field.

"Most of the time, we think of a real estate agent or a loan officer, but there are so many other occupations and jobs that are included in the real estate industry," Williams said. "Representation is very important to us, and we want to make sure that they understand these jobs are available and open to them too."

Williams said some roles do require additional training or education but wants minorities to know the goals are attainable.

The broker also said having more minorities across the industry could help cut down on bias and provide more opportunities for minorities to become homeowners.

"It takes a whole village in order to get somebody to get that home loan and get into that house," she said. "If that house is undervalued just because you're African American, that hurts. That's generational wealth you're not getting."

In addition to learning more about being a broker, the career field will also educate the community on the role of a home inspector, like Jack McNear, who owns AAA Professional Home Inspectors and is the area's only Black inspector.

"I think there's only one other Black inspector in the entire state of Kentucky," he said. "It's just kind of a thing you don't really step back and look at until you get around a whole conference of inspectors, when you get around 300 people, and you say, 'Hey, there's just me!'"

McNear and Williams both agree that increased awareness and education are key to attracting more minority professionals.

"If you're not in a trade or something, don't know any aspect about a home, then it's kind of difficult to be a home inspector," McNear said. "You just need to know a whole lot about a whole lot of things."

McNear used to work at the state level as a civil engineer. He believes starting a new career later in life like he did is possible but he wants to see more of an interest in the profession from younger generations.

"I would just like to see more opportunities and more avenues for people to be able to get in," he said. "Maybe in the high schools, they could teach more about construction. Once you get away from the trades, that's kind of what makes the influx of home inspectors limited."

While McNear and Williams are part of the few in their fields right now, they're hopeful they'll be two of many sometime soon.

Williams said with more people buying and selling homes in recent years, there has been a little boost in the number of people entering the career. However, she said there is still a long way to go in terms of diversity.