GHREB

Since 1929, The Greater Harlem Real Estate Board (GHREB) has served the real estate interests of the Harlem community, local professionals within the real estate industry and members of related industries. We are the oldest African American housing trade association in the United States and the only real estate association serving the Harlem community. We also serve residents in all of the boroughs of New York City.

The Board's founding fathers, who were faced with widespread prejudice and discrimination during the Great Depression, passed on to our current members the legacy of housing the community. GHREB's initial mission -- to promote its members' services -- came to include both marketing and educational support with an emphasis on ethics, professionalism and protecting the public interest. The Board's current goals are to provide our clients with decent and affordable housing, stop the abandonment of housing stock, develop abandoned buildings, repair buildings with code violations, assist residents of the community in achieving home ownership and provide supportive social services to the families and communities that we serve. Click here to read our mission statement.

Real Estate Trade Association

In 1968, GHREB incorporated as a not-for-profit real estate trade association whose members include real estate, mortgage and insurance brokers, property managers and developers, landlords, appraisers, and other industry-related and government professionals. Like the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) to which it belongs, it is committed to high standards of conduct for its members and equal housing opportunity for the community it serves. Click here to read a special welcome from NAREB's President.

Extensive Experience and Knowledge

In order to achieve our goals, members of the Board have worked extensively with the City of New York, Department of Housing Preservation and Development to develop thousands of affordable units through the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Program, Neighborhood Revitalization Program, New Homes Program and Home Works Program. We also manage buildings for private owners, council owners and tenants, ensuring that their buildings remain free of violations. In addition to our property management skills, our members have the knowledge and skills needed to keep our properties in compliance with the rules and regulations of Federal, State and City funded housing Programs. We have also formed alliances with different federal, state, city and privately funded agencies to which we often refer clients who need financial, health or social support.

Public Education Foundation

GHREB's long-term emphasis on community service led to the formation in 1999 of the Greater Harlem Real Estate Board Development Fund Corporation (GHREB Foundation), a non-profit, public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation which encourages affordable housing development and provides support services to the Harlem community. Funded by government grants and charitable donations, the GHREB Foundation provides residents of New York with a high quality, professional, home buyer training program, pre-purchase counseling assistance and other services that facilitate home ownership. The Development Fund serves as a catalyst in helping local residents to become local homeowners. We see the ownership of local real estate by local residents, and more specifically homeownership, as an integral component in the building of wealth among and within families in our urban market. The positive influence of the work the Development Fund performs is apparent when one examines the results of just one of the programs it developed and operates: The Upper Manhattan Home Ownership Seminar Series. Since the inception of this Seminar series, the Development Fund has trained and counseled 1,150 residents. Over 330 of the seminar participants have gone on to become homeowners. The cumulative sum of their mortgages represents more than 110 million dollars in mortgage financing.

Over 75 Years of Community Service

In September, 2004, GHREB celebrated its 75th Anniversary at a Gala attended by members, friends, and dignitaries. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg celebrated "the Board's more than seven decades of contributions to strengthening the real estate industry. Through outstanding programs and services, the organization has been a tremendous source of support for its members and has played a key role in achieving excellence in the industry."