Diversity: The Key To Our Success

michelle July 8, 2020

Whether you are reading this in July 2020 or any time in the future, we want to make it clear:

Mosaik Real Estate is proud to be a diverse team, and values diversity in all forms.

Together, we are a multilingual, multiethnic, and LGBTQ-inclusive group of real estate professionals. This is partly why we chose the name “Mosaik”. Just like an actual mosaic, we believe that when you assemble different pieces thoughtfully, it adds up to a far better whole.

The truth is, however, that our industry has often fought — and continues to fight — against diversity.

Here are just some examples:

Housing Policy & Development: In his 2017 study The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein shows how decisions made throughout the 20th century have entrenched racial segregation across our urban and suburban areas.
Home Searching: Last year, an undercover investigation in Long Island, New York revealed that real estate agents discriminated against people of color 40% of the time, including 49% of the time against Black homebuyers.
Mortgage Lending: Based on 2019 data, Black people in our own city of San Francisco endure a mortgage denial rate of 19.2%, which is well over three times higher than the rate for would-be White homebuyers (5.9%).

The status quo is unacceptable. But combating these forces means we have to be very clear about how we can do better.

Our Commitments

To start, Mosaik Real Estate commits to the following steps:

As we grow, we will continue to add teammates who reflect the diversity of our communities. We know we won’t be able to serve our clients across the Bay Area unless we look and think like them.
We will never consider a client’s race, ethnicity, or sexual identity before deciding to show them a property. Need we say more?
We will actively seek out opportunities to partner with more Black- and minority-owned businesses. This includes other agents, lenders, photographers, stagers, and any other vendor we rely on to serve our clients.

Again, this is just a start. If you have other recommendations for embracing diversity and tearing down the forces of systemic racism, please let us know!