In March, PR News honored Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate for the brokerage’s 2015 research efforts — a series of homebuying studies about the LGBT, Hispanic and Chinese American communities.

BHGRE partnered with the corresponding real estate organization for each demographic, which included the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and the Asian Real Estate Association of America.

Sherry Chris, the president and CEO of BHGRE, said the three studies were part of the brokerage’s increasing commitment to understanding and increasing diversity.

Chris solidified that commitment this week when she announced a strategic change to BHGRE’s core values at the brokerage’s annual summit.

The original core values, known as PAIGE, stood for Passion, Authenticity, Innovation, Growth and Excellence. BHGRE has changed the “I” in PAIGE to stand for Inclusion.

Mark Woodroof, managing partner of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene, a Houston-based brokerage, commented on the change in a press release: “Inclusion is the accelerating force that will drive our industry forward. This goes beyond attracting talent of all ages, backgrounds and perspectives.

“It is how we can draw inspiration from outside the industry to change the way we do things — and with that knowledge offer the most personalized, innovative service to everyone with whom we work.”

Inclusion in real estate practice

According to the brokerage, this change is in line with their commitment to diversity and publicly shows “the importance of embracing people across ethnicities, demographics, and lifestyles and drawing inspiration from all industries to catalyze innovation in real estate.”

BHGRE noted three ideas that the concept of inclusion encompasses in real estate:

·      Several identified generations of people are potential consumers. This is an unprecedented range of perspectives, styles and need sets that real estate companies must understand to deliver the highest levels of service.

·      Diversity in ethnicity and lifestyle has opened up new business opportunities for real estate professionals and made it possible for consumers to enjoy personalized service before, during and after the transaction.

·      Across industries, the companies universally recognized as the most innovative are those that look outside of their respective industries and competitive sets for new, strategic ideas. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has done this since inception, drawing inspiration from industries including retail, travel and technology to help move the industry forward.

“Inclusion is the bond that unites us all and inspires us to do our best work. There has never been a more exciting time to be in real estate. The exponential rate of consumer empowerment, technology and collaboration gives us all the opportunity to accomplish beyond what we could have dreamed about even 10 years ago,” said Chris in a press release.

“With the evolution of PAIGE, we are making a pledge to integrate inclusion into everything we do: for our network, for our clients and for the industry.”

Email Marian McPherson