Accessible to All

Making real estate accessible
Agents strive to accommodate disabled buyers
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Published: Sunday, March 19, 2006
Updated: Sunday, March 19, 2006

Thick rugs, narrow doorways and menacing stairways can stop a wheelchair in its tracks.

Shopping for a house to either rent for the summer or buy can be difficult as it is. A disabled person looking for one doesn't make the process any easier.

Disabled people from those in wheelchairs to those who can't hear represent a portion of the real estate market that real estate agents accommodate.

"We have places with elevators, handicapped accessible. There are units here in town that are definitely geared toward people with handicaps," said Nick Marotta, an agent at Academy Real Estate and the president of the Ocean City Board of Realtors.

Marotta said real estate agents who rent for the summer will measure door openings or arrange for mechanical wheelchairs rentals.

"We get calls. There isn't a year that goes by where we don't get calls trying to accommodate somebody with a disability," he said.

Last summer, an Avalon real estate agency started a service to communicate with deaf clients.

The Avalon Re/Max has a software program that enables real estate agents to use live sign language interpreters, said Nia Coombs of Re/Max.

Those in wheelchairs present other issues.

Avalon real estate agent Dan Bowersock said the realtors have to take into consideration what houses would suit people with disabilities.

"Years ago I was showing properties and the folks had a van that had the apparatus they needed to get the wheelchair out. The challenge for me was to sift through the 200 odd properties that were accessible," said Bowersock, of Ferguson Dechert Real Estate.

"It was something I had to think of mentally: Can I get in this house with a wheelchair, let alone navigate the interior of the home?"

Ron Snarskis is a real estate agent who deals with the disabled everyday.

Snarskis, who works in the Tampa Bay area in Florida, has been in a wheelchair for 18 years. He has moved several times, and his wheelchair was always a top consideration.

Snarskis said disabled people need to express to their agent what they are looking for in a home. They should make a list of all the things they consider necessary before they even visit a real estate agent, he said.

Being prepared is especially important for disabled people because the mere act of seeing houses in person can be exhausting, he said.

"It's better to do it this way," Snarskis said. "Do it intelligently."

Little nuisances like cracks in sidewalks, lips in doorways and the size of doors can cause big problems, he said.

"Regular people walk on carpeted floors and think nothing of it, but if you have to wheel a wheelchair over a carpet, the friction is great," he said. "If you have to push around on a carpeted floor all day long, that becomes quite a burden."

Some tiled floors can even be difficult because of the bumps, he said.

"What I'm trying to do is point out things that regular people take for granted that become huge obstacles for people like myself. It's little things that you wouldn't even think of that become an obstacle," he said.