For much of the past year, NAR’s leadership team has been on the road. More than 420 trips, by one count shared Thursday at the Town Hall for Association Leaders at NAR NXT, taking volunteer leaders into state and local associations, brokerages, industry events and meetings with members around the country.
But the number was not really the point. The conversations were.
Again and again during the hourlong town hall, NAR leaders returned to a message that has increasingly shaped the association’s approach over the past year: Listen first. Understand what members need. Then show them what NAR is doing about it. And before the hour was over, they put that approach into practice.
Members stepped to microphones with questions about artificial intelligence, MLS consolidation, association mergers, broker resources, advocacy and how local and national leaders can stay connected more consistently throughout the year.
The questions weren’t treated as an afterthought. They were the spotlight of the town hall.
One local leader suggested creating more opportunities for association presidents and vice presidents to connect virtually throughout the year, perhaps by region, instead of relying primarily on a handful of annual gatherings. NAR leaders welcomed the idea and discussed how additional touchpoints could help volunteer leaders carry information back to members.
Another asked how NAR could better identify and reach small brokers with resources tailored to their businesses. Leaders pointed to improved member data, more targeted communications and tools brokers can customize and use in their own offices.
Questions from the floor also prompted conversations about the future of local associations and MLSs, the implementation of federal housing legislation and the growing role of AI in real estate.
For NAR President Kevin Brown, the back-and-forth was precisely the point. “If you can’t take questions from the audience, what’s the use of us even coming?” Brown said. “We don’t want to come to you and preach to you. We want to hear from you.”
That willingness to listen, leaders said, has increasingly influenced what NAR is delivering to members.
“You build trust by doing what you say you’re going to do,” Brown told the crowd. “You do what you say you’re going to do, and then you deliver results.”
For Brown, that has meant keeping the association focused on what he called getting “back to business,” addressing the issues that can either help members get to their next transaction or stand in the way.
He pointed to challenges ranging from housing inventory and insurance costs to financing, zoning and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on real estate transactions.
“Our clients are cross-checking everything we do through AI,” Brown said, arguing that REALTOR® members need the tools, market intelligence and education to provide professional context to supplement AI and serve clients with confidence. The push is also changing how NAR reaches brokers.
Meeting REALTOR® Members Where They Are
After holding almost 50 broker summits last year, NAR is on track to hold nearly 90 this year, leaders said. Participation in Broker Power Hour has increased 62%, and it was standing room only at the new Broker Innovation Forum at the conference, with more than 1,000 brokers attending.
Brown said that outreach grew from a recognition that brokers had not always been included enough in the association’s conversations.
“The number one thing is listening,” he said. That feedback is leading to some decidedly practical resources, from customizable consumer guides and sales-meeting slide decks to AI policies and MLS guidance that brokers can take back to their businesses.
That same philosophy is increasingly shaping NAR’s communications.
Rather than ask members to come to the association for information, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Bennett Richardson said NAR is trying to meet them where they already are, whether that means newsletters, podcasts, social media, video or other channels.
It also means sounding more human. Richardson acknowledged that NAR communications historically could have an “official” voice that became dense and easy to tune out for members busy running businesses, working with clients and closing deals. The new approach is intended to make information easier to read, absorb and use.
“We’re not chasing clicks with this stuff,” Richardson said of NAR’s redesigned newsletters. The goal, he said, is for a member to open one, get through it in a few minutes and come away with something of real value.
Incoming NAR President Christine Hansen framed the three levels of the REALTOR® organization in much the same way.
Members generally encounter the association first at the local level, she said. From there, they begin to understand the opportunities available through their state association and eventually NAR. The strength of the system depends on those relationships working together.
“When we talk about building trust, it’s really about being able as leaders to be authentic and to be vulnerable,” Hansen said. “I might not have all the answers. I might make a mistake.” What members should expect, she added, is honesty, openness and a willingness to listen. And perhaps that was the clearest message of the afternoon.
After a year of hundreds of trips, broker summits, new communications tools and renewed outreach, NAR leaders are betting that rebuilding trust will not come from a single program or message. It will come conversation by conversation.
