A new era for NAR? How its leaders are trying to win back trust 

FRISCO, Texas — The National Association of Realtors has moved past the "I'm sorry" stage following a difficult few years for the organization. Now, it is focused on the future as it works to rebuild trust with members and industry leaders.

A trio of NAR leaders — CEO Nykia Wright, President Kevin Sears and Special Advisor Sherry Chris — extended an olive branch of sorts while speaking to real estate executives at the T3 Leadership Summit this week. They emphasized their industry outreach efforts while acknowledging the frustrations they've heard about the events of the past few years, such as NAR's commission settlement — and who was left out — policy changes, leadership turnover and sexual harassment allegations.

Finding allies

Chris — who has a deep background in brokerages that includes a nearly 20-year stint at Anywhere — said she began reaching out to companies in January and was relieved to find executives picking up the phone.

"Everyone took the call because they wanted to talk, but they also wanted to express their disappointment," Chris said during the May 20 panel discussion. "But at the end of almost every call, the broker, owner or leader that I was talking to agreed that they wanted to be part of the solution. That was a pivotal point early on."

Seeking stability

NAR has been trying to get its house in order, and a big part of that is consistency in leadership and member expectations. After being hired on an interim basis, Wright accepted a permanent position as CEO in August, creating stability at the top. And despite NAR's settlement payout, Sears said the organization has a balanced budget to present to the board — one that keeps membership fees at their current level.

"We've heard loud and clear from you all that well, you have, I don't want to say, suffered through the last year, but I guess that could be a word. It just wouldn't be right for us to raise the dues on our members and your agents," Sears said.

The trust factor

Sears acknowledged that restoring trust will take some time, but NAR is committed to earning it back. "We broke it overnight, but it's not going to happen overnight."

Part of that process is holding people accountable and making sure everyone has a voice.

Chris said she's been impressed with how Wright has been doing behind the scenes, creating a staff that is business oriented and held to a high standard.

"She has taken individuals from the past that were not in line with what we're trying to do now, and they're gone," Chris said. "You can't see that yet, but I guarantee that you will in a very short period of time."

In addition to removing those who aren't aligned with NAR's goals, Wright said the association also wants to bring back the stakeholders who have not been at the table for the past 10 to 15 years — and make sure NAR doesn't pick favorites.

Taking action 

Before joining NAR, Wright was the CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times, and she has seen organizations fail. "Coming from journalism, I see what the catastrophic end looks like, and every day I try to outrun that because no one wants to get that close to the end. So it is our job to stay away from that every single day as much as possible," Wright said.

Responsiveness, Wright added, will be key as NAR continues to tackle organizational issues and policies.

"We're not waiting until we get a pretty PowerPoint presentation together…. When we hear something that we can act on immediately, and a show of faith and a shot of honesty and integrity, we move on it," Wright said.

There are longer-term plans in the works, "but for the short-term play we are signaling to the market that we are here to help every single broker get to their next successful transaction," she said.

Note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.