Orthodox Jewish Realty

One of my favorite blogs is OrthoMom, the musings of an Orthodox Jewish mom. It is nicely written, almost always interesting, and intimate in the best sense of the word — as if it were a conversation between friends. (And I love her “Heroine of the Day” series.)

The most recent posting is about the real-estate needs of Orthodox Jews, and how a recent New York magazine article on this subject was fine but, from the perspective of an OrthoMom, not very surprising. Then OrthoMom gives us the inside scoop on what an Orthodox family is looking for, including a large basement where noisy Shabbat guests can be banished, or staggered terraces on an apartment building so an open-air sukkah can be built on every floor.

She also makes the point that an Orthodox real-estate agent enjoys a considerable advantage with Orthodox customers, since the agent will already have a good feel for the customer’s preferences. This got me to thinking of other real-estate scenarios: do Spanish-speaking agents do considerably better with Latino clients? Do immigrant agents do better with immigrant customers? Women with women/men with men?