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Habitat representative defends referral arrangement with Lehi Reinke after council complaint
Summary
Council Vice President Breyer said residents complained that use of Lehi Reinke shut out local independent brokers; a representative identified as Sam, speaking for Pensacola Habitat, said the arrangement is a referral/test program to increase qualified buyers and is not an exclusive listing agreement.
During review of a land‑donation and development agreement related to East Jackson Street, Council Vice President Breyer said she had received complaints that Pensacola Habitat had used Lehi Reinke — a large local real‑estate firm — in a way that blocked smaller independent brokers from marketing the properties.
Sam, who spoke for Habitat during the meeting, told council the Lehi Reinke arrangement is a limited referral or test program intended to bring qualified buyers into Habitat's pipeline. "This is just one mechanism that we are trying to increase the flow of potential home buyers into our program," Sam said. He emphasized that Habitat controls qualification and the closing process and that the East Jackson properties are expected to generate direct interest so they may not require conventional listing.
Sam also said Habitat has strong local production and construction capacity but that the primary bottleneck is a shortage of qualified homebuyers rather than marketing channels. Council members did not take formal action during the discussion and indicated the matter could be revisited as the land‑donation and development agreement proceeds.
