NAR’s image problems, the Chicago mayor’s learning curve and political tumult in Canada. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Dec. 16-20.
Miss: Welcome to Spin City. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has hired the advertising agency Uncommon Creative Studio to help recalibrate its image in the wake of a year’s worth of negative publicity. The terms of the contract were not disclosed, but it follows a marked decline in NAR’s media spending – the trade group spent $38 million on advertising for the first three quarters of this year, down from $90 million in same period during 2023. While it is easy to appreciate NAR’s eagerness to rehabilitate its tarnished image after nearly two years of nonstop scandals, missteps and a series of New York Times probes, it will take more than gauzy advertising and feel-good public relations campaigns for the organization to earn back the respect and goodwill that it lost.
Hit: A New Approach to MLS Access. Arizona’s Phoenix Realtors is now offering a new MLS Choice membership option that provides access to the MLS without requiring the traditional three-tier membership in local, state and national associations. Phoenix Realtors explained they introduced this option because “the real estate landscape is evolving, and we want to continue to evolve with it.” NAR was not happy with this innovation and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Phoenix Realtors, which has yet to publicly respond. But, seriously, with NAR under scrutiny for its disastrous leadership role in the real estate industry, perhaps it should consider evolving with the times and rethink what is best for the profession?
Hit: By Jove, He’s Got It! Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson isn’t the fastest learner, but he eventually caught on to the obvious fact that his city is in no mood for property tax hikes. This week, the mayor acknowledged the displeasure from City Council members and his constituents by dropping his effort to raise property taxes as part of his budget strategy for covering the city’s $1 billion deficit. Johnson cut his proposal down from $300 million to $68.5 million before abruptly dropping it completely in favor of newly discovered “operational efficiencies” coupled with spending cuts. Let’s hope Johnson doesn’t make the same mistake again in 2025.
Miss: Getting Off the Sinking Ship. Canada’s Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned this week from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. Fraser is considering a run at the Nova Scotia provincial Liberal leadership, which withstood a significant loss to the Progressive Conservatives in last month’s provincial election, while Freeland had a nasty public spat with Trudeau over his tariff threat from President-elect Donald Trump. Trudeau’s popularity has been tanking due to his dismal handling of hot-button issues including the nation’s housing shortage and a disastrous open-door policy that flooded the country with immigrants. Canada’s next federal election is coming in October 2025 – who wants to bet that Trudeau will resign before that vote comes around?
Miss: The Case of the Missing Brokerage. One of the strangest stories out of Massachusetts this week involved the abruptly mysterious closing of the SUCCESS! Real Estate brokerage and the evaporation of its money. Boston 25 News reported that checks issued by the company to its clients and agents bounced. Local police are currently investigating the matter, but as of this writing there have been no criminal charges files. The brokerage’s ownership has eluded efforts by reporters to offer a public explanation of what transpired. We’ll keep you posted on how this story unfolds.
Hit: Putting Bad Landlords on the Hot Seat. The mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, is taking a new approach to dealing with what he calls “problem landlords” – he is publicly shaming them for what he claimed were their refusal to address tenant complaints and maintain safe housing conditions. WTNH reported Mayor Arunan Arulampalam insisted this was an effective way to right multiple wrongs across his city, adding that one of the landlords was being referred to the State’s Attorney for prosecution. “If you don’t shape up, we are going to drive you out of this city,” he added. “We are going to make it hard for you to do business and when you put profits over people, we’re going to make sure those profits dry up. You’ll face violations and fines and you’ll find Hartford to be an unhospitable place for you.”
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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