Selling us an "hogar" or "casa"

Realty Times has an article about a Texas A & M's Real Estate Center report that found that, "there are many home buying behaviors and attitudes that are commonplace among Hispanics."

Why should realtors listen? The article states that according to Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Hispanics should account for as much as 40 percent of all new homeowners in the next 20 years.

Differences include:

-- Hispanics are more likely to first consult a parent, not an agent, for advice.
-- More than half of the Hispanics surveyed believe it is difficult to qualify for a mortgage.
-- Hispanics are less likely than other groups to consider the home buying process easy because of such factors as language barriers, attitudes toward debt and the complex nature of U.S. real estate transactions.
-- Most Hispanics surveyed say they are comfortable buying a home with a small down payment.
-- Hispanics have the lowest expectations of what they will pay for a home.
-- Many Hispanics of all income ranges prefer an agent who can relate to them, meaning the agent speaks Spanish, has the same ethnic background.