HGAR launches new website tool

The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtor (HGAR) has launched its new "We Speak Your Language" website tool for members of the public to find Realtors who speak their native languages for home buying, selling or leasing transactions. Now, anyone can visit HGAR's website, www.hgar.com, click on the "We Speak Your Language" flags icon, and choose from 187 different languages. A "search" button will then display a list of those Realtors who speak the requested language. The new website tool is the brainchild of Eydie Lopez and Kevin O'Shea, the chair and vice chair of HGAR's Fair Housing & Cultural Diversity Committee. "Our focus this year was to reach out to our culturally diverse population and help them find real estate agents who can deal with them in the language they are most comfortable speaking," said Lopez. "We then created a database of languages so that we could provide even better services to those looking to rent, buy or sell properties." HGAR's Multiple Listing Service, HGMLS, now offers an expanded service area that includes eight counties stretching from as far south as the Bronx to as far north as Ulster and Sullivan Counties. "With such a diverse population, we thought this was the best time to implement this new program," added Lopez. In addition, people from around the nation or the world can now visit the website to find Realtors who speak their languages. "Our goal is to create a strong bridge between the public and our Association so that they can select the Realtor who will work best with them," said Richard Haggerty, HGAR CEO. The Hudson Gateway Association of REALTORS® (HGAR) is a not-for-profit trade association covering over 9,000 real estate professionals doing business in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, and Orange counties. HGAR is comprised of the former Westchester Putnam Association of REALTORS® (WPAR), Rockland County Board of REALTORS® (RCBR) and Orange County Association of REALTORS® (OCAR).