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Throughout his 50-plus years with the Houston Association of REALTORS®, President and CEO Bob Hale has been no stranger to change. He shares his perspective on the transformative times we’re living in today.
Q: How have you been preparing for the settlement changes?
I view HAR’s role as making sure our agents and brokers know the facts and can make informed decisions. We launched The Reality of Real Estate campaign on har.com, which has six million visitors per month. We also have videos in English and Spanish, social media graphics, and one-sheets that can be branded and that talk about the value our members provide to their clients. We are working on a customizable list of services that we encourage our members to present when they have the conversation about the residential buyer’s representation agreement with a new client.
We don’t have all the answers, but we are trying to make sure our members and consumers are prepared.
Q: Amid all this change, how do associations continue to show value to members?
I send an email newsletter titled Insights to all members every Friday morning. [Since early May], the last few issues have focused almost 100% on the settlement. We are also continually rolling out new tools and services for our members, including a whole suite of in-house-developed artificial intelligence tools (AI-generated property and photo descriptions, highlighted features, photo tags and audio descriptions) that will make their lives easier.
Q: How have you fostered broker relationships at HAR?
We have feedback channels for all the segments of our membership, and we actually listen and respond. I can’t tell you how many times a broker has been shocked that someone from our senior staff would call them to talk about whatever issue they were having.
I think the biggest lesson is to not be afraid of failing or of taking big risks.
Q: What lessons apply from other changes you’ve successfully navigated in your career?
Houston remains the only market in the country where a national real estate portal is not No. 1. The breadth and reach of har.com allows our members to focus on their businesses and not have to pay a portal for leads or referrals unless they choose to do so. We conduct research through focus groups and surveys so that we know what consumers want, and then we give it to them. Consumers don’t have a reason to go to another site that wouldn’t benefit our members.
think the biggest lesson is to not be afraid of failing or of taking big risks. I have learned far more from the times I haven’t been successful than I ever did when things went exactly as planned. And always ask if what you are doing is in the best interest of the members. If you can say yes, then you know you are doing the right thing.
