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Accommodating Physical Disabilities in Real Estate Sales

Posted On Wednesday, 29 December 2021 20:32
Accommodating Physical Disabilities in Real Estate Sales

Every real estate agent understands how important it is to find a property to match the desires of their clients. If you’re looking for property to accommodate clients with physical disabilities, you’ll want to make an extra effort to understand what that person’s needs might require to make any property into their dream home. 

At the end of the day, however, every experienced real estate agent understands quite well that each person is different, so finding the perfect location should come with the territory of your job. That said, there are a few points to keep in mind that might prove helpful in your search. 

Attentive Conversation Can Go a Long Way

As in any other case, every person is different and has different concerns and needs. No matter what the situation appears to look like on the surface, the worst thing you can do when building a working relationship with a client is to make assumptions. 

For example, just because someone is using a device to assist with mobility doesn’t necessarily mean that you can guess their specific requirements. Even if you know that a client has issues with mobility, that doesn’t mean you can assume that they use a wheelchair or any other specific type of assistance. Likewise, just because someone has a mobility issue does not necessarily mean that they will always prefer to live on the ground floor. Again, the best policy is to always listen to what your client tells you about their needs.  

Do You Own Research

You may excel at using your intuition to judge people and make suggestions based on those assumptions, but this is an area where such guesswork can prove disastrous. In many cases, this will involve learning about a specific condition so that you can better assist a particular client. 

This will involve becoming aware of any aspect of a property that might present a physical hazard to someone with a mobility issue and understanding what renovations might be required to overcome such hazards. 

Avoiding Discriminatory Language

It may seem evident to you that you should always avoid using discriminatory language, especially when working with clients. What you may not be aware of, however, is how prevalent it is for the words and phrases we commonly use every day to contain discriminatory remarks and attitudes. 

You should possess a thorough understanding of discriminatory language so that you can avoid using it in all cases. This isn’t just a good idea because it will help you build a better relationship with your clients; it is also part of non-discrimination law, which means that you could face a lawsuit if you are not careful. 

Emergency Precautions 

You’ll want to ensure that any building that contains a stairway is equipped with stair chairs for evacuation in case of emergency. Stair chairs allow a single person to assist anyone with a mobility issue that prevents them from descending stairs on their own to easily access that stairway so that they can exit a building quickly in the case of an emergency. 

Since a stair chair is a piece of emergency equipment that can help save lives in any location where a person with mobility issues must use a stairway to exit, you can help make any property safer by ensuring that it is equipped with one. If you are showing units in a larger apartment complex or high-rise condo building, you may also want to ensure that a few stair chairs are available. 

Open House Meetings

Even if you don’t currently have a client living with a disability looking to purchase a new home, it will be helpful for you to make yourself aware of special needs now. When you’re hosting an open house, for example, you should put measures in place that help to ensure that the viewing is accessible to everyone. 

While you should never make generalized assumptions about particular people, there are a few common accessibility features that can ensure that a property is more likely to accommodate the needs of more people. For example, you can pay attention to whether a property contains safety handrails and easy access to bathrooms and parking. 

It will also help to make yourself aware of unavoidable obstacles that will present an accessibility issue for some people. Determine whether hallways and entrances are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and whether bathrooms contain accessible features. In cases where physical hazards are present that cannot be overcome in time for the open house, you must always communicate these issues to your clients. 

About 1 in 5 people in Canada live with some disability. As a real estate agent, it is up to you to ensure that you can accommodate the needs of this sector of the general population. After all, no one deserves to be overlooked when it comes to finding a safe and comfortable place to live. 

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