11 Questions for NAR
Last week, I posed 11 questions to the National Association of Realtors after asking seven Realtors to see if they could answer the same 11 questions (none of which could answer them all by using the NAR website Realtor.org). I noted then that my motive was to “give the NAR an opportunity to show off how transparent they are (or are not or could be or will not be), to help Realtors to become more involved by being more educated and lastly for consumers (I consider myself in this category) to understand the industry and better connect with and trust real estate professionals (the long term challenge).”
Responses ranged from “damn the man” to “get involved and you’d know the answers” to “you’re stupid” (my summation, not actual quotes). I got stuck on the “get involved” mantra because asking questions and helping people understand committee life is the first step in actually getting involved- you don’t buy a house or car without research, why would you volunteer on a NAR committee without doing the same?
Realtor.org is difficult to use
What some misunderstood about my article is that I was calling into a question how a website is set up, not how an organization functions. The site is outdated and disorganized and I see room for improvement (as do the many Realtors I spoke with before publishing the 11 questions).
NAR Committee deems Realtor.org difficult to use
I’m not alone in my thinking. At the 2009 NAR Mid-year meeting on May 15th in Washington, D.C., the Communications Committee had a breakout group discussion of Realtor Magazine and its online edition. The minutes to the meeting show that the committee agrees with me… the final line of the minutes reads:
“Love the idea of using the site as a reference site – we know you have the information. Make it easy for us to find.
Thank you, committeechargedwithrealtordotorg for retroactively proving my point.
