America faces a crisis in housing opportunities for low - to moderate-income families. This was the sentiment of panelists at a housing opportunity workshop held during the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, here through November 16.

“Realtors® build communities and are advocates for effective solutions to help families find homes they both like and can afford,” said National Association of Realtors® President Pat V. Combs, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt.
“Realtors® care about the nation’s lack of affordable housing opportunities and believe in the value of homeownership, which provides many benefits to the community, such as stronger neighborhoods and betters schools, as well as individual benefits such as wealth accumulation.”

Panelist Cheryl Nelson of the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors® talked about the association’s homeownership and mortgage readiness certification program. “Potential homeowners receive home buying education from Realtors®, financing information from lenders, credit counseling, translation services and even child care and transportation,” said Nelson. “The program has helped many local families attain and sustain homeownership. More than 90 individuals participated in our first course and eight became homeowners. Following our fourth and most recent course, 34 percent of course graduates went on to buy a home.”
Associations across the country are establishing creative strategies and partnerships to help families experience the joys of owning a home. The Boulder Area Association of Realtors® partnered with the city of Boulder and the Affordable Housing Alliance in Boulder, Colo. to build two affordable duplexes, dubbed the Southern Lights Community. The three-bedroom homes were sold well below the area’s median sales price.

BAAR helped raise seed money for the project by hand-building a child’s playhouse, which was raffled for more than $25,000. “We knew we wanted to build the homes so we searched to identify potential partnerships to help meet our objectives. We wanted to do more than just give funds to another organization – we wanted direct participation,” said Ken Hotard of BAAR.

In 2003 the Bay East Association of Realtors® formed the Northern California Housing Coalition, which consists of 22 area Realtor® associations. The coalition promotes housing opportunities, advocates for homeownership assistance programs, and promotes mixed-use housing development. By collecting $1 per member from the participating associations, the coalition has been able to produce a guidebook to help other Realtor® associations develop housing opportunity programs and a consumer Internet portal with information on city assistance programs.

“The program benefits consumers, Realtors® and individual cities,” said David Stark of the Bay East Association of Realtors®. “Consumers are able to achieve the dream of homeownership, Realtors® gain transactions and communities are better able to attract a qualified workforce.”

To help even more Realtor®  associations create housing opportunity initiatives, NAR’s Housing Opportunities Program recently launched a new Realtor® Housing Solutions database. The database, at www.Realtor.org/HousingOpportunity, includes information and ideas from Realtors® and their local and state associations on how to promote housing opportunities for both renters and homeowners and suggestions for getting involved with affordable housing initiatives in their local communities. The database includes information on more than 600 activities and programs, along with specific details and contact information.

“The Realtor® Housing Solutions database demonstrates the enormous effort made by Realtors® to expand housing opportunities in communities across the country,” said Realtor® Robert Caldwell of Altamonte Springs, Fla., and chair of the NAR Housing Needs Committee. “The goal of the database is to provide effective, practical solutions to specific housing issues that other Realtors® and associations can follow.”

NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program was created in 2002 with the mission of providing Realtors® with the tools and information they need to promote housing opportunities in their community, in both the rental and homeownership sectors of the market. The program encourages local Realtor® associations to create housing opportunity initiatives aimed directly at helping consumers gain access to housing. 

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.