Maryland REALTORS®
MarylandHomeownership.com
Maryland’s state REALTOR® association had already been using REALTOR® Party resources to great effect when the NAR settlement was announced in 2024. With Issues Mobilization Grants and the Advocacy Everywhere program, for example, they had recently leveraged statewide polling and education campaigns to shape public opinion on major legislation from missing-middle housing to accessory dwelling units.
Following the announcement, however, Maryland REALTORS® understood that consumer trust needed considerable rebuilding. They set about increasing education and transparency, restoring the REALTOR® brand as a credible resource in the process. Again, they turned to the REALTOR® Party, and grants from multiple programs are working together to boost the success of the rehabilitation.
The first step was to amp-up the REALTORS®’ existing MarylandHomeownership.com website (MHO) as a foundation for the whole effort. From there, they conducted a series of upbeat, relatable consumer campaigns to keep driving attention back to the site. Robust visit numbers and growing engagement are proving the strategy correct. It’s been a clear win-win, says Lisa May, the association’s Director of Advocacy and Public Policy: “People were looking for honest, truthful information without an agenda. No slogans, no spin. That’s what we’ve stepped up to do. We’re providing all this beneficial information to Maryland consumers, and they, in turn, have come to see us as a trusted source.”
The MarylandHomeownership.com website had existed for years, in a fairly static state; a 2024 Fair Housing Grant from NAR supported the major overhaul that transformed it into a dynamic, interactive, continually updated resource. The new site, “a real labor of love” reflecting significant staff time and Maryland REALTORS® funding, as well as the grant, has been a tremendous success, reports May: “We’re so proud of it now, and it gets great feedback. It houses our weekly blog post, social media content, our monthly webinar, educational videos, and check-lists and how-tos. The idea is that wherever Marylanders are in their homeowning journey, there will always be relevant information for them on MHO.”
A Housing Opportunity Grant funded a fresh update of Maryland REALTORS®’ buyers and sellers toolkits and fair housing brochures, and this content was added to the new site and printed for distribution to Maryland’s housing agencies and local REALTOR® associations; another Fair Housing Grant helped get these materials translated into Spanish – the preferred language of 10% of the state’s population.
Once the site was ready for prime-time, a Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grant funded an Open Letter to the Editor campaign in all major newspapers in Maryland, including The Washington Post, to explain aspects of the NAR settlement and what consumers can expect from the REALTORS® who represent them going forward.
Beginning in August 2024, four successive outreach campaigns have been connecting new waves of consumers with current MHO content. To meet the target audience wherever it is, the REALTORS® have advertised outside-the-box: alongside the Baltimore Ravens, on local traffic-weather-and-news channels, and on public transit, as well as seeking extensive digital exposure and hyper-geo-fencing around every open house in the state.
According to May, the content on MHO and the nature of the campaigns is informed by listening carefully to feedback. “The monthly webinars hosted on MHO, which always welcome questions, together with our regular focus groups, allow us get into the minds of consumers and adjust as needed.” This is how they have learned what consumers are curious about, confused by, and even how housing terms used internally may differ from how consumers tend to search: “For example, what we call ‘mortgage programs’ are what an aspiring homeowner would be more likely call ‘home loans.’ That difference matters, because we need to meet them where they are.”
With its latest Housing Opportunity Grant, the association continues to improve its outreach to Spanish-speaking consumers. Partnering with colleagues at the Maryland Hispanic Real Estate Association, they have translated and re-recorded all MHO core educational content. “This was not just an after-thought; we didn’t add subtitles to existing videos, we created new Spanish-language versions,” explains May. “The new videos have been very well received, and it’s telling that when we put out a call to our Spanish-speaking members to appear in them, the response was overwhelming – we had far more volunteers than we had video segments! They understand what this level of respectful outreach means to our Spanish-speaking neighbors, and were eager to be part of it.”
To learn more about how Maryland REALTORS® has re-established the REALTOR® brand as Maryland’s authority on housing matters using a variety of REALTOR® Party resources, contact Lisa May, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, at Lisa.May@mdrealtor.org or 571.228.7385.
Post a comment