Grow Your Community and Your Expertise

AEs, REALTORS® explore new planning and zoning elective course.

growing your community, modern connections

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Association executives and REALTOR® leaders have a new opportunity to expand their expertise and be active participants in resilient community planning and advocacy for smart growth. The Center for REALTOR® Development’s Planning and Zoning Certificate course, an Accredited Buyer’s Representative elective course, provides AEs and members with actionable ways that they can help local stakeholders understand the economic, environmental and housing aspects of effective land development.

The certificate course empowers attendees to effect positive change while gaining a competitive business advantage. Learning objectives include:

  • Understanding how planning, zoning and smart growth benefit your community and your business.
  • Identifying key components and stakeholders of the comprehensive planning process and how they play a role in community development.
  • Summarizing how zoning has evolved and how this history has discriminated against and negatively impacted historically marginalized communities.
  • Explaining how smart growth is changing the way real estate professionals approach business and how it will help meet the changing demands of home buyers and sellers.
  • Discussing ways that you can implement smart growth principles in your town to enhance the community and build your business.

You can offer this course locally by connecting with a CRD-licensed provider. You may be able to underwrite the cost with a Smart Growth Grant in the Level 1 category for up to $3,000. The National Association of REALTORS® Community Outreach program, which supports state and local associations’ smart growth initiatives, opened for applications Jan. 2, 2024.

ABR Courses & Electives REALTOR® Party Community Outreach

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Grow Your Community Outreach With Grants

Want to write a more compelling grant application? Sign up for a Community Outreach Planning Session to get a one-on-one virtual overview of critical steps for developing ideas and standing out from the crowd.

NAR’s Community Outreach program offers state and local REALTOR® associations five different grants to match their objectives in the categories of housing opportunity, smart growth, placemaking, rural outreach and fair housing.

Level 1 grants support trainings, speakers or stakeholder meetings (up to $3,000); Level 2 grants support partnership-led policy forums, ordinance development, visioning sessions and studies (up to $7,500); and Level 3 grants support comprehensive policy and program initiatives leading to long-term impact (up to $15,000). Each association can receive one grant per level each year, and grant applications are available online (login required).

Sign up for a Community Outreach Planning Session

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About AExperience

All state and local REALTOR® association executives, association communication directors, regional MLS executives, and Government Affairs Directors receive AExperience at no cost. Issues are mailed to the address found in NAR’s M1 system. To update your AExperience subscription preferences, update your mailing address in M1.

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