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The November election will be here in a flash, which means an infusion of new leaders and ideas. Up for grabs this fall are 33 Senate seats, all 435 House seats and 11 gubernatorial seats, along with a myriad of local elections.
Despite potential political and policy changes, the REALTOR® organization is prepared to react at every level of government.
The organization’s three-way agreement—which helps the local, state and national associations use collective efforts on many fronts, including advocacy—helps fuel NAR to quickly mobilize on real estate issues at a large scale. The relationship between the three levels of the REALTOR® organization lends power to the collective voices of NAR's 1.5 million members in advocating for policy that supports the dream of homeownership.
The “federated” structure created by the three-way agreement helps NAR have such a significant impact on critical issues. For example, NAR worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to temporarily waive the VA's ban on veteran home buyers compensating their brokers directly. It was a critical update in the days leading up to the Aug. 17 industry practice changes, which modify the way real estate pros are compensated.
“Taking this extra step ensures veterans have the same opportunity as others to compete in a tight housing market,” NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn said in June, when the VA ban was lifted. NAR continues to advocate for the stopgap measure to become permanent.
The win came about a month after REALTORS® Legislative Meetings, where members from across the country shared their personal stories of working with veteran buyers with their representatives of Congress to amplify the issue.
The national, state and local levels work in tandem to identify and emphasize flaws in policies that could hurt buyers, sellers and real estate professionals. A ballot measure in Chicago shows how this trilateral team truly shines, despite an uphill battle against city leadership’s policy proposal.
“The mayor—throughout his campaign and then when he was elected—said that increasing Chicago's property transfer tax was his number one housing priority,” says Gideon Blustein, senior director of advocacy programs at the Illinois REALTORS®. “The conventional wisdom going into this was that we had no chance.”
The referendum would have raised transfer taxes on million-dollar properties by up to 300%, increasing housing costs for renters and homeowners. While members of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® acted as “the boots on the ground,” the Illinois REALTORS® association was the brain trust of the effort and NAR provided financial support through its Issues Mobilization Program.
Blustein also relied on NAR for advice and its vast network to seek advice from leaders who had faced similar proposals. “There's no way we could have run an effective paid media campaign in Chicago without the support of the National Association of REALTORS®,” Blustein says. With the Chicago, Illinois and national associations working together, “we were able to run a really effective campaign and ultimately secure a victory for our members, clients and all property owners against all odds.”
In Maryland, the state association helped pass bipartisan legislation aimed at shoring up “middle housing.” The law incentivizes developers to build in areas close to rail transit stations, areas owned by nonprofits or former state-owned or federal military campuses in need of redevelopment.
“It says, if you agree to provide a certain percentage of dedicated affordable units, then you get to build additional—in many cases, 30% more—of your market rate units,” says Lisa May, director of advocacy and public policy at Maryland REALTORS®. “And that helps the developers absorb the cost of providing those dedicated affordable units that are going to be affordable for a term of 40 years.”
May says the Maryland association worked closely with Gov. Wes Moore’s administration, which referenced the association’s polling data in determining its course of action on housing in the state.
“A significant percentage of young Maryland renters were considering leaving the state because of our housing situation, and that was [a statistic the governor and secretary of housing] used over and over again to convince people that this is not just a today problem; this is a tomorrow problem,” May says.
She says Maryland officials leaned on NAR when the bill faced a key deadline in a Senate committee.
“We used NAR’s call-for-action system,” May says. “We hit all of the members of that committee with messages from their constituents about how important this bill was.” Within a week, the Senate committee approved the bill, which eventually passed the state legislature.
This all-hands-on-deck approach also makes NAR’s “surrogate” program a success. Nearly 800 NAR members have volunteered to collaborate with NAR, state and local associations to provide in-person presentations, be interviewed by the press, write op-eds and amplify NAR social media posts.
Tim Hur, managing broker at Point Honors and Associates, REALTORS®, in Atlanta, joined the program “to make sure the correct information was out there” about the practice changes.
“I was thankful that [NAR’s proposed settlement agreement] included independent brokerages like mine, and I felt it was important to help other REALTORS® and the public understand that we are committed to transparency. And this was one of the steps to do so,” Hur says.
In May, dozens of surrogates bounced from one interview to the next in a day-long media tour at D.C.’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Speaking with reporters from Tennessee to New York, the surrogates appeared 460 times to a total audience of more than 17 million.
“We need everyone to understand that we all have a part, and this is my way of giving back,” Hur says. “Especially if you speak another language or are part of a different culture, being a surrogate is important to make sure the messaging is out there.”
