Illinois real estate firm creates online LGBT in response to changing laws.
As in many U.S. states without inclusive legislation for LGBT couples, queer couples in Illinois faced a number of significant challenges, especially when it came to the sale or purchase of a home. When it comes to owning a home together, members of the LGBT community have had to rely upon complex legal advice and documents to make joint home-ownership a reality and not just a white picket fence dream.
But things are changing across the nation and in Illinois with the progress of marriage equality and our finances and their security need constant updating.
“This change in legal status is affording LGBT couples a range of new opportunities, including helping to ‘simplify’ the process of joint home ownership,” says Yuval Degani, President of Dream Town Realty. “That’s why we created the Dream Town LGBT Client Services Division — the first of its kind in the nation.
As these new families begin to form, we know that many will have questions about the implications this change in legal status will have on their home finance options, title transfer, real estate taxes and other significant residential ownership issues.”
The plans for launching Dream Town’s LGBT Client Services Division were fast-tracked following the Federal Court ruling on Friday, February 21 that moved the ‘official’ start date of legal Same-Sex Marriage for residents of Cook County up by 3 months.
“Our strategy for the new LGBT Division has been in the works since last fall’s passage of Illinois’ landmark Religious Freedom & Marriage Fairness Act,” says Degani.
“We’re committed to making sure that the LGBT community has all the tools they need to fully understand their newly won real estate rights and responsibilities,” says Todd Szwajkowski, newly appointed President of Dream Town’s LGBT Client Services Division.
“The LGBT community is extremely important to the business vibrancy of the Chicago area. Applying national trends to the Chicago economy suggests that the purchasing power of this demographic is in the neighborhood of $30 billion.”
To address how legal changes will impact LGBT buyers and sellers in the area, Dream Town Realty will make available a number of resources to assist them. These include award-winning LGBT sales consultants well-versed in same-sex relationship rights and tax matters, custom created content for LGBT buyers and sellers, as well as links to credible third party (and official local/state/federal government) sources — all available free of cost or obligation at the dreamtown.com/LGBT landing page.
A free event, billed as “Pride of Ownership,” will be held on April 26 from 1 to 4 pm at the Center on Halsted (3656 N. Halsted Street in Chicago). The panel discussion will feature subject matter experts — including tax lawyers, mortgage specialists, real estate authorities, and community leaders — offering insights and answering LGBT buyer and seller questions directly.