What if real estate professionals approached their communities not just as real estate experts, but as journalists?
That idea took center stage during Friday's Housing Opportunities Committee meeting at NAR NXT in New Orleans, where Allaire Conte, senior writer at Realtor.com, shared how real estate professionals can help tell compelling housing stories and become trusted voices in their communities.
Whether it's a proposed development, rising rents or a shortage of affordable homes, agents often recognize emerging issues before they make headlines. They hear directly from buyers, sellers and neighbors about challenges that statistics alone can't capture.
And that makes them valuable storytellers.
Look Beyond the Headlines
For Conte, compelling housing stories begin with people.
Growing up in Phoenix, she watched her father, a handyman who frequently worked with real estate professionals, navigate the fallout of the 2008 housing crisis. Friends lost their homes, families struggled and news coverage often seemed to overlook the emotional impact.
That experience shaped her approach to journalism: Look for the personal stories.
Real estate pros can help uncover those stories by recognizing patterns in everyday conversations—parents helping adult children with down payments, renters struggling to save or neighborhoods experiencing vastly different market conditions. These observations can become the foundation for stories that resonate with readers.
Become a Resource for Reporters
Conte encouraged attendees to proactively approach journalists and share what they're seeing in their markets. Introduce yourself as both a real estate professional and community member. Explain why the issue matters. Rather than simply pitching a story, provide them with supporting data, firsthand observations and connections to sources who are directly affected. For journalists covering markets across the country, those local connections are invaluable.
Conte also encouraged REALTOR® members to speak up when news coverage overlooks important perspectives or perpetuates misinformation. Offering additional context to reporters, backed by reliable facts, can help tell a more complete story.
But credibility requires acknowledging complexity.
Rising home values, for example, benefit longtime homeowners while creating barriers for first-time buyers. Both experiences can be true, and effective communication should recognize them.
Her guiding advice? Know your audience. Understanding whom you're trying to reach—and how different people experience the same housing issue—makes communication more persuasive.
Put Storytelling Into Practice
Following Conte's presentation, committee members broke into roundtable groups to practice communicating about controversial housing issues in their communities.
Scenarios included proposed developments facing neighborhood opposition, zoning changes, student housing affordability, short-term rental restrictions and infrastructure concerns. Participants developed social media responses, brief talking points and questions designed to encourage constructive dialogue—not just with journalists, but with the public.
A common theme emerged: Listen first.
When change comes to a community, such as a new housing or commercial development, public transportation or municipal upgrades, sometimes there can be opposition—often referred to a NIMBYism (not in my backyard). Rather than dismissing concerns about traffic, infrastructure or neighborhood character, real estate professionals are in a unique position to acknowledge residents those concerns, verifying facts and keeping conversations productive.
"Every housing decision affects real people. When we combine credible facts with the real stories of people striving to live, work and thrive in our communities, we move from conversations to collaboration and from challenges to housing solutions," said Amy Peterson, committee chair and real estate pro with Edina Realty in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
One of the roundtable groups examined opposition to a proposed development in Galveston, Texas. They suggested that recognizing residents' concerns without immediately agreeing or disagreeing as a good starting ground. Another committee group that discussed a proposed data center emphasized researching infrastructure costs and environmental impacts before responding publicly.
The exercise reinforced an important lesson: Effective housing advocacy isn't simply about having the right facts. It's about communicating them in ways that build understanding and trust.
Now, the committee hopes to bring those lessons to a broader audience by turning the exercise into a learning opportunity for REALTOR® members.
“The Housing Opportunities Committee identified an opportunity to turn this successful exercise into practical education for the broader membership. The members’ insights and enthusiasm created a strong foundation for helping them communicate about housing issues with credibility, confidence, and empathy,” said Laurie Benner, NAR's manager of housing and community development.
The committee will begin developing a course to help real estate professionals navigate challenging housing conversations and communicate more effectively in their communities.
Tell the Stories Only You Can Tell
REALTOR® members’ most valuable resource may be the firsthand knowledge they already possess. That expertise can be shared through local media, social media, community meetings, newsletters and conversations with clients.
Don't wait for someone else to tell your community's housing story. Find the people behind the numbers. Listen to their experiences. Bring credible information to the conversation.
You don't need a newsroom to become a trusted source of housing news. You just need to know your community and have a story worth sharing.
