On Tuesday, more than 300 attendees at the REALTORS® Land Institute’s 20th annual National Land Conference heard from National Association of REALTORS® President Kevin Brown about how the association is prioritizing collaboration.
“What we look to do at NAR, this year and the coming years, is strengthen our relationship with RLI and make sure that we are co-creating resources and education ... because you guys are extremely important to us,” Brown said at the San Antonio, Texas, event, which had 700 registrants and was the largest to date. “This is where it starts. And if we are going to increase inventory in this country, it starts with the land.”
RLI is an NAR-affiliated institute representing the land real estate industry, for example, farms, ranches, timberland and orchards, and the brokerages that specialize in them. Brown’s discussion with RLI CEO Aubrie Kobernus illustrates how the association is acting on its commitment to rebuild partnership foundations, as laid out in its three-year Strategic Plan and furthering progress made in 2025.
“This was the first time that the [NAR Institutes, Societies and Councils] have explicitly been listed in the NAR strategic plan,” Kobernus said. “We greatly appreciate that.”
Brown discussed how NAR’s advocacy work directly protects and benefits commercial and land real estate; for instance, NAR successfully protected 1031 like-kind tax exchanges and successfully lobbied for the reauthorization of and improvements to the Qualified Opportunity Zone program in Congress. (For more on the opportunity zone program, read “Back in the Zone.”)
In addition, NAR and RLI worked hand in hand to encourage the Environmental Protection Agency to revise the definition of the “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, urging the federal government to deliver a clear and transparent WOTUS rule that protects the nation’s waterways and supports economic growth.
Read more: NAR: WOTUS Review a Win for Property Owners
In November 2025, the EPA released a new proposed rule that includes waters that are “relatively permanent” and excludes interstate waters.
"The Waters of the US [2025 proposed rule] is one of the big issues that NAR has been at the table with us advocating for, year after year,” Kobernus said. “Because of NAR, we are included in a group that is known as the Waters Advocacy Coalition,” which has been fighting regulatory overreach since the EPA’s final rule took effect in 2023.
Brown wrapped with a call to action: Speak up. Ideas are welcome, and so is constructive feedback.
“We want to know what’s working and what’s not,” Brown said.
