When lawmakers in Madison, Wisconsin took a step towards a zoning change that would increase affordable housing, the REALTORS® generated a strong showing of public support with an Issues Mobilization campaign and a consumer Call For Action. The positive response counterbalanced vocal opposition from powerful homeowner associations and helped tip the City Council vote to a narrow win.
Utah Association of REALTORS® Conducts Compelling Social Media Campaign in Support of Major Legislation Boosting New Housing
For five years, the Utah Association of REALTORS® has been working with the governor’s office and the state legislature to engineer solutions to the state’s dire shortage of affordable housing. The recent session saw the creation of some game-changing approaches to funding, among other advances and reforms, which the state REALTORS® supported with their first big social media buy. An Issues Mobilization Grant helped make it possible.
Housing Stabilization
Housing Stabilization – A Guide for Collaboration and Initiatives assists REALTOR® associations with creating a local Housing Stabilization Task Force to help homeowners, renters, and landlords manage the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ada County (ID) REALTORS® Bring Housing Opportunities to Life in Idaho
The 3,000-member Ada County Association of REALTORS® (ACAR) first used an NAR Ira Gribin Grant to develop a three-pronged housing assistance program it called Welcome Home Idaho -- providing down payment assistance for working families; zero-percent loans to help with fees and interest; and Employer Assisted Housing materials and training for the community’s REALTORS®, elected officials, and business leaders. Then, it moved on to use NAR Housing Opportunity Grants to put on a housing summit; a Fair Housing campaign; a housing trust fund for lower-income homebuyers; and more.
Nashville REALTORS® Gather Coalition for Ground-Breaking Housing Summit
Where there are homes in safe areas with access to good education, good transit and other services, that’s where the jobs go. It was this kind of big thinking that led the 2,800-member Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS® (GNAR) to gather a coalition of regional partners in the housing industry last summer, to co-sponsor The Greater Nashville Housing Summit. The July 3 event at GNAR headquarters was the first of its kind, drawing housing experts and policy makers from around the state for a forward-looking “state of the housing market” program. Media relations, both before and after the Summit, were...
Spokane REALTORS® Spur Much-Needed Housing Development with Pro-Growth Candidates
The inventory of available housing stock is at a historic low in Spokane, Washington, and housing prices are seeing double-digit increases. In the midst of the crisis, the Spokane REALTORS® successfully championed a challenger to the mayor’s office, as well as candidates for the City Council to spur much-needed housing development.
Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® Supports REALTOR Champion for Housing
When the REALTOR® Champion running to maintain her seat on the Oklahoma County Commission faced a primary run-off, it looked like an up-hill battle: though Carrie Blumert had the advantage as incumbent, her challenger was a former state senator and statewide candidate who had held a slim lead in the primary; when neither won a majority of votes, the challenger was favored to prevail in the run-off election.
NAR Report Outlines New, Tailored Policies to Address U.S. Housing Affordability Problems
Nationwide housing inventory is lower than it’s been since the National Association of Realtors® began tracking this data in 1982. To continue its work to address a problem that has long plagued American communities and has been worsened by COVID-19, NAR this week released new research arguing that the nation’s affordability crisis will require policymakers to adopt a number of localized solutions. The paper, State and Local Policy Strategies to Advance Housing Affordability, recommends lawmakers pursue solutions through three key avenues: financial policy measures; policies aimed at increasing the supply of housing and zoning; and permitting policy reform.
Denver Metro Association Grows Employer-Assisted Housing Idea from Grant to Class to Program
The 4,500-member Denver Metro Association of REALTORS® (DMAR) realized that Employer-Assisted Housing was a topic that would serve both the membership and the community, so they applied for and received a $5,000 grant from NAR to fund a course in October 2010. Then, they took it to the next step by establishing the Greater Brighton Employer-Assisted Housing program. Today, the program serves this tightknit community northeast of Denver by showing employers who might not have ready cash to offer down-payment assistance that benefits like a day-off for moving, or the loan of a truck, are creative low- or no-cost ways...