As the community we serve evolves, we realized there was a lack of information about home buying and selling process available in the Spanish language and other minority groups were not being served properly to address their homeownership needs. We also found many Hispanic consumers lacked the financial education needed to become homeowners — many have insufficient credit history or didn’t know who to contact to start the process.

In 2018, ReeceNichols’ Community Affairs Department was created to strengthen our community partnerships to not only assist all members of the communities in which we operate with their transactions, but to educate them on the steps to achieve homeownership and how to grow and protect their home and its value. We recognize the complexity of this industry and are committed to being a trusted resource for both our agents and the community and to ensuring exceptional service and a transparent process.

Last October, we launched an initiative to serve the growing Hispanic community in Kansas and Missouri. Although the focus will initially be on the local Hispanic community, this foundation will allow ReeceNichols to better reflect our current and evolving community within our agent population, leadership and client base.

We developed HILT (Hispanic Initiative Latino Team), comprised of 21 bilingual agents, a loan officer and a title officer; who not only speak the Spanish language, but understand the Hispanic culture. Additionally, we have created multiple channels of communication for the HILT team to better connect with Latinos, including a Facebook page, website and hotline. Also, we created bilingual contracts and brochures.

We’ve increased our presence in the community through various sponsorships and partnerships, such as hosting homebuyer education sessions at different locations, holding educational sessions at the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for emerging and established sales professionals, sponsoring homebuying sessions for Catholic Charities’ refugee population, and signing a letter of intent with the Mexican Consulate to educate its nationals on the path to homeownership.

Fabián Gayosso