NAR President Unfiltered Interview With BAM Media

NAR President Kevin Sears joins Byron Lazine in this exclusive, unfiltered BAM Interview. They discuss Kevin’s time as president so far, what’s next for the association and industry at large, and how Realtors can all move on together. Plus, Byron asks Kevin to clear up NAR’s budget—including its spend on marketing groups and staff salaries—how NAR expects to keep member dues low, and why membership data has disappeared from the website. Become a member of BAMx: https://bamx.uscreen.io/pages/subscribe Use discount code BYRON for 10% off your annual subscription! Subscribe to the BAM YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/aatxhaka Subscribe to BAM Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/nowbam/the-best-newsletter-in-real-estate Connect with Byron Lazine: https://www.instagram.com/byronlazine/ Connect with Kevin Sears: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-sears-089a92b/ NAR Legislative Priorities: https://www.nar.realtor/advocacy/federal-advocacy/nar-legislative-priorities Timestamps: 00:00–00:59 Intro 01:00 Glamorous life traveling as NAR President 04:31 Embrace the changes coming 05:32 Kevin’s journey to NAR President 09:28 How important are relationships within the association when climbing the ladder? 10:49 Are there too many politics in the national and local Realtor associations? 12:28 What’s the control dynamic between Nykia Wright, CEO, and President? 13:12 Nykia is in charge of the staff, collaborative effort on the leadership team 14:06 Kevin is the chief spokesperson for NAR 15:02 Extending Nykia’s contract and what’s next for a new CEO in 2025 17:43 Why is the spend for Havas marketing group between $30-$50 million a year? 19:19 Is there data on the impact marketing has had on the association or its members? 20:50 Do you like the NAR ad campaign? 22:18 One of the biggest benefits for members and their dues dollars is advocacy 23:18 Elected officials are seeing what’s happening… NAR has great relationships with them 24:00 Two talking points for legislative meetings on Capitol Hill (more info at flyin.realtor) 25:36 What’s your opinion on staff salaries? 29:32 How NAR plans to streamline its budget 30:46 This is an opportunity for us (NAR) to get better 37:06 Is NAR covered on copycat lawsuits? What about the buy side? 39:18 What about the DOJ? 42:45 Tie-in agreement between local, state and national associations—is that changing? 47:11 Why has the membership data been removed from the NAR website? 48:07 Kevin’s “On the Road” videos—a message to his critics BAM PARTNERS 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐤 is everything you need once a lead becomes a client: Collaborative Search. Listing Management. Transaction Management. Forms. Client Retention. Advanced Analytics. Unlock your digital sidekick today. Use code “bam200” for $200 off the one-time implementation fee → https://www.mosaik.io/ 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚: Tired of spending your hard earned money on marketing you know never makes it past the trash can or spam filter? Imagine getting texts and calls thanking you for your marketing. That’s what we do for you → https://remindermedia.com/bamsample/ 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐜𝐚𝐧𝟕: The most accurate, powerful, and effective real estate seller lead generation resource to build your business. GET STARTED TODAY → https://www.vulcan7.com/bam/ 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤: Hire a Virtual Assistant Today! Use code BAM200 for $250 OFF the signup fee → https://myvirtudesk.com/contact?promocode=BAM200 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦: The most trusted provider of comprehensive real estate data nationwide. Try it FREE → https://signup.propstream.com/name 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐮: Increases real estate team & brokerage annual volume by 107% and agent annual volume by 28% → https://sisu.grsm.io/bam-pod-partners 𝐒𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: Solutions That Maximize ROI. SEO powered IDX websites and a predictive CRM driven by marketing automations that help you capture, convert and close. Faster. Let's Chat → https://get.sierrainteractive.com/bam