About
Welcome to Gay Friendly Broker.com, administered by J. Philip Real Estate LLC. Our firm is an independent brokerage based in Westchester County, New York. We serve a wide footprint of the New York Market, including Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess and Fairfield (CT) counties. We can also help clients in the NYC boroughs and Long Island.
About the broker:
J. Philip Faranda is broker and owner of J. Philip Real Estate in Briarcliff Manor, NY, which he founded in 2005. The firm is one of the leading independent brokerages in Westchester County, serving all of Westchester as well as nearby Rockland and Putnam. There are 18 licensees with the company, which has enjoyed steady growth through the housing downturn.
Philip’s commitment to helping LGBT clients started in 1998 when he was approached about buying an ad in the old Rainbow Pages in upstate New York. He is a member of the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Profesisonals (NAGLREP), the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and, most importantly, he has a filing cabinet filled with happy past clients.
Philip has appeared on ABC World News and been a source for The New York Times, MSNBC On the Money, Gannett, Associated Press, AOL, The Real Deal, 1010WINS.com, Smart Money, MSN Money, and various other media outlets. An industry veteran since 1996, he is one of the top-selling broker agents for transaction totals in Westchester County since 2007 (ranking in the top 10 out of over 7,000 members), and is the Vice President of the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service. He is also the author of the Westchester Real Estate Blog and the New York Short Sale Blog.
Phil lives in Briarcliff Manor, NY with his wife Ann and their 4 children. Ann is co-owner of the firm and is a graduate of Stuyvesant and Columbia.
Some Answers to Questions Asked Over the Years
Q: Are you gay?
A: No, and no one in my immediate family is either. I was raised Catholic and I am married with 4 children.
Q: Then why would you market your company to the LGBT community?
A: There are many reasons, long and short. It’s the right thing to do, and it is the last true civil rights movement that hasn’t been given its proper due by most people, especially those in power.
Q: How did being a gay friendly firm start?
A: In 1998 when I was a relatively new agent in Rochester, NY I was approached by a sales rep for the Rainbow Pages of Buffalo, New York. The Rainbow Pages were like the Yellow pages for the gay community. At that time, it seemed like an astute business move to work an under-served niche and little else. I bought an ad for about $40 and my first client was a gentleman who introduced me to his daughter, which surprised me. I began to get an appreciation at that point to how tough it can be for some people to come out.
Q: Have you ever been accused of pandering?
A: Only once, and those were difficult clients that I should not have worked with in hindsight, gay or not gay. But I’ve had far more than one difficult straight client! I’ve closed dozens of transactions with LGBT clients, and I’ve actually gotten some hate thrown my way by some anonymous people, which sort of punctuates how far we have to go as a free society.
Q: You mentioned civil rights. Is this sort of like being an activist?
A: Not so much, it is business. However, what started out as a smart niche to serve has grown in my mind to be a very worthwhile place to channel my efforts. When I was growing up in a rather strict Catholic household and my hormones were going haywire, I knew that when I was an adult I could marry and express myself in a way completely accepted by society. If I were gay and thought that I could never have the sun shine on my face it might be more than I could bear. It was tough enough as a straight guy.
Therefore, it is clear to me that straight people of honor should not simply offer the LGBT community benign neglect. We should stand shoulder to shoulder with gay folks because it is the right thing to do until being gay is no different than being left handed or blue eyed. Working with dozens of gay clients has opened my eyes to many things, and at this point, the best thing I can do is offer my firm as an example of how we should be toward each other.
Q: Do you support gay marriage?
A: Yes, I support equal rights across the board. The one thing I can tangibly do daily is advance equal housing, and I am fully supportive of gay marriage, gays being able to adopt children, serve in the military openly and anything else they wish to do in a free society.
