BROKERS in New
Jersey say a recent ruling by the state’s top court that confers full
marital rights and benefits upon gay and lesbian unions makes the Garden State
a more attractive location for gay families. A possible result may be a surge
in the number of gay home buyers, a number of real estate specialists
asserted; this would provide a bit of salutary buzz in a market that has
seriously slowed in recent months. 
Two years ago, when the state passed a law providing domestic partner benefits, “it definitely generated a surge in traffic and sales,” noted Scott Kirk, an agent in the Metuchen office of Weichert Realtors.
PROVIDING A COMFORT LEVEL Scott Kirk of Weichert Realtors estimates that more than half of his customers are gay; for Jaan Henry, below, the percentage is about 85 percent.
“I anticipate that when the new law fully takes shape,” Mr. Kirk added, “the same thing will happen.” He runs TheGayborhood.com, a Web site dedicated to gay home buyers and sellers, which provides him with feedback on the market.
Under the domestic partnership law, same-sex couples already enjoyed joint tax status, inheritance tax exemption and medical decision-making rights. The new ruling declares that they have all the other spousal privileges as well — including the right to family benefits offered by private employers.
The court left it to state legislators, however, to draw up the statutes that will determine what gay unions are called — marriage, or something else — which some gay activists believe will affect how carefully the law is followed. The lawmakers must provide new statutes within 180 days.
Jaan Henry, who runs her own real estate agency in Montclair, said that the recent court ruling had already generated a small flurry of inquiries at a nonprofit “gay relocation” referral service that she set up 21 years ago — it is on the Web at crossroadsrelocation.org.
“People want to live where their families are accepted and respected, and where their children will have peers,” she said.
Ms. Henry acknowledged that Montclair, Maplewood, South Orange and a few other places in New Jersey — mostly in Essex County — are already known as very “gay family friendly.”
A lesbian couple in Montclair secured the nation’s first legal “gay adoption” 17 years ago, recalled Ms. Henry, who positioned herself as a “gay friendly” agent there starting in 1985. The local Unitarian Church began reaching out to welcome gay congregants around then too.
In Maplewood and South Orange, which share a school system and promote themselves as one community, rainbow flags of welcome to gay men and lesbians have been seen on homes around town for several decades, Ms. Henry noted. In Maplewood, she said, the current town manager, Joseph Manning, is a “completely out” gay man, who adopted a child with his domestic partner, Christopher Reggio.
Open housing laws prohibit real estate agents from “steering” buyers to certain neighborhoods or towns because agents want them to live near others with the same sexual orientation, just as the laws prohibit steering anyone to or away from neighborhoods because of their race, ethnicity or religious affiliations.
“I don’t find that to be a real problem, though,” Mr. Kirk said. “People who are relocating from San Francisco or Los Angeles or Miami or Washington, D.C., might tell me they want to live in a gay neighborhood or gay district.
“I tell them that New Jersey is not really like what they might be used to,” he said. “It’s more of a loosely knit community throughout the state. We’re all over.”
But other avowedly gay and lesbian real estate agents remain leery about promoting themselves as “gay friendly,” or proffering any services geared to gay and lesbian clients, because of the antidiscrimination laws. Some agents are critical of Ms. Henry’s relocation Web site, in fact, because they see it as flouting the spirit of open-housing laws.
But Ms. Henry and Mr. Kirk, and other gay and lesbian agents, said their intent was to provide gay clients with the same kind of personalized attention they give to heterosexual clients.
“Probably more than half of my clientele is gay,” said Mr. Kirk, while Ms. Henry said her clientele was probably 85 percent gay. “They deserve a comfort level during the home-buying process that is as full as possible,” he added.
“I just had a phone call the other day from a gay man wanting to buy a house with his lover,” Mr. Kirk said. “He had gone to a mortgage broker on his own, and he’d been asked what kind of income he would have, but was very apprehensive about advising the broker that his lover’s income should be figured in as well.
“The guy was just so thrilled that he could discuss this with me openly.”
Mr. Kirk said he talked with the customer “and helped relieve his anxieties,” and then referred him to the mortgage department at Weichert.
Bob Kohl, a ReMax Renown agent based in the Morris County town of Randolph, estimates that about 25 percent of his clients are gay or lesbian, and says they generally are not looking for gay havens, just cordiality.
“I find that when clients contact me — whether they are gay or straight — they have already done their homework and know what communities they are interested in,” he said.
“Most gay people have no problem living next to straight people, as long as they’re friendly,” he said. “I always tell them if they are serious about a place, then they should knock on the door of the neighbors and see what they’re like.”
“As for realtors,” Mr. Kohl added, “I’ve been in the business 17 years, and I’ve never met a realtor who wasn’t gay-friendly. They just want to sell homes.”
