Real estate has a standards problem.
And until we’re honest about that, we’re going to keep trying to fix perception while ignoring performance.
BAM’s recent interview with NAR CMO and CCO Bennett Richardson outlined NAR’s two primary goals:
- Modernize the organization
- Enhance the agent experience.
At the same time, NAR launched a new consumer-facing campaign meant to elevate the perception of Realtors. It shows a hardworking agent grinding to get a client to the closing table. The sweat, the coordination, the seamless handling of a complex transaction that often goes unnoticed.
It’s a strong portrayal.
It represents the kind of agent this profession should produce. But that commercial reflects the ideal, not the enforced minimum.
There is no structural requirement that agents operate at that level. No defined baseline of execution. No verified standard of competency in negotiation, contracts, pricing, or client protection.
We are marketing excellence without requiring it.
The Scale Problem
When the structure of an organization depends on scale, you build for participation. In NAR’s case, that means more agents are needed in order to collect more dues. And when that’s the model, you can’t raise the baseline too high without shrinking the room.
So messaging gets watered down. Education gets simplified. Standards stay vague enough that no one feels excluded.
NAR’s funding model, brokerage recruiting pipelines, and local association membership all depend on volume. Raising standards means fewer dues-paying members, smaller rosters, and less revenue (at least in the short term).
But the long-term cost of not raising them is the one we’re already paying: an erosion of public trust that no commercial campaign can reverse.
There is no widely recognized certification that actually verifies mastery of execution. Most designations are pay-to-play. Most “top producer” labels are marketing categories. Most accolades measure visibility or volume, not competence.
We’ve created an ecosystem where branding is standardized, but performance is individualized. If you operate at a high level, you built that yourself. Your own systems. Your own workflows. Your own guardrails. Not because the industry equipped you — because it didn’t.
If We Fixed the Inside, the Outside Would Follow
If we clearly defined what competent representation requires and actually enforced it, perception would fix itself.
The “agents are overpaid” narrative would shrink. Trust would increase. The commercials would feel aligned instead of aspirational.
You don’t elevate a profession by polishing the optics. You elevate it by raising the bar. And raising the bar doesn’t mean making it harder to get licensed. It means defining what professional execution actually requires once you are licensed.
Real contract competency. Real negotiation skill. An understanding of pricing beyond pulling comps. A defined standard of professional responsibility, not as a talking point, but as something measurable.
Here’s one example: a post-licensing competency framework. Not another weekend designation you pay for to check a box. A structured, skills-based evaluation, pricing analysis, contract negotiation scenarios, risk identification, client advisory simulations that agents complete within their first two years and refresh periodically. Something a brokerage could actually use to verify that the people on their roster can do the job, not just hold the license.
That’s a guardrail. That’s accountability.
This isn’t just about NAR. It’s about us.
Because the truth is, we tolerate it.
We tolerate agents operating without real mastery. We tolerate peers who cannot negotiate, cannot manage leverage, cannot protect clients under pressure.
We normalize participation. And then we act surprised when the public questions our value.
This profession handles life savings, family stability, and long-term wealth. It should feel serious.
If you want higher standards from the top, you have to demand them at every level.
Modernization is easy to announce. Standards are harder to enforce. But only one of those actually elevates an industry.
Raise the bar. Then run the commercials.
