Kevin Brown (AHWD, C2EX), a REALTOR® from Oakland, Calif., is the 2024 First Vice President of the National Association of REALTORS®. A second-generation real estate professional with over 44 years of experience, Kevin owns and manages the family business that his father started more than 55 years ago, and often works with his brother, Bill Brown of Alamo, Calif., who served as 2017 NAR President. Kevin is broker-owner of Better Homes Realty and Brown Commercial Investment Real Estate Services, which serves Oakland, Berkeley, and the surrounding Bay Area.
Specializing in residential and commercial real estate sales, Kevin also has extensive expertise in investment property brokerage and management. Kevin’s past clients include residential buyers and sellers, banks, institutional investors, large trusts, law firms, the City of Berkeley, smaller individual investors, and the U.S. Marshal Service.
At the state and local level, Kevin has spent over two decades assisting real estate associations in their creation of public policy to protect consumer interests, private property rights, and home ownership. Kevin began making his mark in leadership when he served in numerous local association committee positions, and was then elected as the 1994 president of Oakland Association of REALTORS®, where he was awarded REALTOR® of the Year.
At the state level, Kevin chaired several policy committees, task forces, and working groups, including chair of the association’s Legislative Committee, where he received the California Association of REALTORS® outstanding committee chair award, and REALTOR® of the Year award. Kevin was then elected as President of the California Association of REALTORS® in 2014, where he met on a regular basis with Congress, government regulators, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac during the economic recovery after the 2008 financial and housing market crash.
Kevin first engaged with NAR 27 years ago, and since 2011 he has served on the Board of Directors. He was chair of the Conventional Finance and Policy Committee in 2017, an NAR committee liaison in 2018, NAR Regional Vice President (for Region 13) in 2020, and REALTOR® Party Director in 2021. He has testified before Congress on behalf of NAR on three separate policy issues.
A few of Kevin’s continuing key goals during his involvement at every level have been continuing to improve ethics and professionalism in the industry, lobbying government and regulators to provide affordable housing and financing, and to increase inventory.
Today, Kevin resides in Lake Tahoe with his wife Abigail, and they have two adult children, Sean and Olivia. When not working, he enjoys employing his carpentry and woodworking skills at home, reading, skiing, backpacking, and scuba diving.
