RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance: Inside an Empowering Real Estate Community

The RE/MAX network believes everyone deserves the opportunity to own a home, and passionate RE/MAX affiliates work every day to support all consumers in their real estate journeys.

Sam Olson, a team leader with RE/MAX Gold in Reno, Nevada, wanted to take a bigger step toward closing the homeownership gap specifically for the LGBTQ+ community. Support for consumers, he realized, starts with a real estate agent who shares in the same goal.

“The gap between U.S. homeownership and U.S. LGBT homeownership is massive,” Olson says. “As LGBT families with parents and kids are more accepted, you need that homeownership aspect to help create generational wealth.”

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report states that the current population of LGBTQ+ adults living in the U.S. is over 20 million individuals. But with a homeownership rate of 49.8%, according to the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, the LGBTQ+ community still lags behind the U.S. national average at 65.8%. As a way to better support a sizable cohort of prospective LGBTQ+ homebuyers and sellers, Olson established a niche community within the RE/MAX network to connect LGBTQ+ real estate agents and allies: the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance.

Leaders of the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance share how the inclusive real estate group is supporting agents – and how other RE/MAX affiliates can get involved, too.

Establishing a ‘network within a network’

Olson founded the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance in 2019 as a networking opportunity for RE/MAX affiliates. In just three years, the group’s growth has been exponential.

The RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance Facebook group – the primary hub of communication – boasts more than 450 members, many of whom engage in virtual conversations and gatherings. And at the annual RE/MAX R4 convention, the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance hosted its in-person meetup, this year sponsored by the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. RE/MAX has had a partnership with LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance since 2021.

“[The RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance] exists as this network within the network, which is another opportunity for people to rely on each other and create referral opportunities,” Olson says.

The group is inclusive of RE/MAX affiliates who identify as LGBTQ+ and allies alike.

“Everybody who can get behind the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance’s mission, and is eager to help the community grow and evolve, is welcome to be a part of it and shape its future,” Olson says of the importance of welcoming allies into the group.

“We have members all around the country and they know they can rely on our community. It’s become this really impactful educational and outreach tool.”

Esther Clarke, an agent with RE/MAX Associates in Salt Lake City, Utah, is an ally who joins Olson on the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance leadership team.

“Sam has really pioneered an opportunity for the LGBTQ+ members of our community to truly be themselves,” Clarke shares. “Our Facebook group, meetups and social events let people know they part of a larger community. So many people are excited to have a space where they feel a strong sense of belonging.”

Olson and Clarke agree that the response from affiliates has been overwhelmingly positive.

“There was a person this year who, at their first R4, felt comfortable knowing they could go to this event alone and that it was going to be okay,” Olson says. “They had a place to connect with other people in the LGBT network.”

Making local impacts

Members of the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance inspire one another and use their shared knowledge and passion to create an impact on a local level. Olson, for example, recently founded the local chapter of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance in Northern Nevada.

Clarke shares that many people she’s met through the group inspire her – and other affiliates – with ideas and plans for business and community growth.

“I’ve formed irreplaceable relationships that have changed my life in so many ways,” she says. “Watching Mark Kruse in Colorado build his successful team and watching Brian Redfern in Arizona make an impact with his local [Children’s Miracle Network Hospital] has been so inspirational.”

Helping increase homeownership

At the heart of these friendships and business connections lies a common goal of increasing homeownership among marginalized communities.

“[LGBT homeownership is] on the rise,” Olson explains. “That’s due in no small part to the big brands, most notably RE/MAX, stepping up and saying, ‘We support this. We are all about inclusion. We are all about diversity. And we are all about everyone being able to own a home.'”

As part of an ongoing commitment to ceaselessly support homeownership for all, RE/MAX is a national sponsor of the LGTBQ+ Real Estate Alliance, an organization that celebrates homeownership among the LGBTQ+ community while working to eradicate housing discrimination.

“Aligning with the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance is an effective way to expand knowledge on inclusive homeownership initiatives and better support LGBTQ+ homebuyers and sellers,” says Mike Reagan, RE/MAX SVP, Industry Relations & Global Growth and Development. “Attending this year’s LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance Annual Convention, from September 28-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a great way to get involved.”

Olson cites a passion for education, policy change and creating a true impact in the lives of others as reasons he’s aligned with the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. And that affiliation, in addition to creating and growing the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance, are just two components of Olson’s activism initiatives.

“It’s been the greatest honor of my career – helping members of the LGBT community buy and sell homes,” Olson says.

“If an agent is in line with advocating for homeownership for all, they have a home with the RE/MAX Rainbow Alliance.”

Read more information on related statistics, especially those impacting buyers, on the Motto Mortgage blog.

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