{"id":20505,"date":"2024-11-01T14:28:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T14:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=20505"},"modified":"2024-11-01T15:30:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:30:50","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-3-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/acar-consumer1124","title":{"rendered":"Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS\u00ae Reaches Readers of Regional Publications to Demystify the Homebuying Process, Advocate for Local Assistance Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS\u00ae <\/sup>needs to get information in front of the residents, consumers, and voters in the area it serves, it has a tried-and-true method: producing a special editorial supplement in two widely read regional magazines.\u00a0 Last year, in an effort to persuade elected officials in local jurisdictions to develop homebuyer initiatives like down payment assistance programs, it reached readers again by partnering with the magazines.\u00a0 The resulting \u2018Demystifying the Homebuying Process\u2019 campaign was made possible by a Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grant<\/a> from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party.<\/p>\n

Jamie McMillen, ACAR\u2019s Vice President of Government Affairs, explains that the effort had two goals: to provide a high-level overview of the road to homeownership, and to generate public support for local government creating an assistance-mechanism for those struggling to save for a down payment.\u00a0 \u201cThere are plenty of federal and state programs, but they are tied to an income threshold,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cThanks to a study we commissioned in 2020 that was supported by NAR, we know that there\u2019s a growing segment of people in our region making more than that threshold, but still unable to save for a house in a timely, meaningful way.\u00a0 And, of course, it\u2019s not just a down payment: they\u2019ll need money for closing costs, and, often, they\u2019ll need more for repairs.\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to motivate local governments to come up with tools to break down these very real barriers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a complex and challenging task, so our message in the magazines was: let your elected officials know you\u2019d appreciate this kind of assistance, and until we can find a formula to implement, share, and replicate, here are some programs that can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The engaging 8-page special supplements appeared in the popular \u201cBest of\u201d edition of Cleveland Magazine<\/em> and in Akron Life<\/em> (combined readership of more than 300,000 and 59,000 followers on Instagram.)\u00a0 Having worked together on several such projects, says McMillen, the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> and Great Lakes Publishing have developed a smooth and productive working relationship.\u00a0 \u201cThey understand our advocacy goals, and what we\u2019re trying to do for the community, and that makes each campaign even easier.\u201d\u00a0 The magazine inserts, she notes, have the added benefit of being a nice, polished leave-behind for meetings with clients, partners, and officials.<\/p>\n

This time around, the publisher\u2019s copywriter interviewed four REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> members, each familiar with a different kind of barrier to the homebuying process.\u00a0 In the insert, they explain their role as REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> and discuss various assistance programs available.\u00a0 \u201cOur aim was to showcase the value of the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup>,\u201d says McMillen, \u201cand show that we do this every day: it\u2019s not without challenges, but it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outreach is clearly helping the association to tell its story and increase homeownership in northeastern Ohio, states McMillen. \u00a0\u201cI love the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party\u2019s programs, and the more we do, the more I see how the results can work together to support our goals.\u00a0 In this case, five years ago, we received a grant for an economic analysis of Akron that revealed that more than half its residents were housing cost burdened and were therefore unable to save for a downpayment; that information, in turn, has been supporting the outreach advocacy we do with grants from a different REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party program \u2013 like these editorial inserts.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> is working to reach consumers with information about the homebuying process and helpful resources, contact Jamie McMillen, VP, Government Affairs, at jmcmillen@akronclevelandrealtors.com<\/a> or \u00a0216.525.4834.\u00a0 To see the association\u2019s latest magazine insert, visit:\u00a0 https:\/\/issuu.com\/greatlakespublishing\/docs\/acar2023?fr=sMGNiYTYzMDMzMTk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Using a Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grant from the REALTOR\u00ae Party, the Akron Cleveland Association of REALTORS\u00ae produced a colorful, accessible 8-page editorial insert for two widely read local magazines to spell out the homebuying process and promote local initiatives that help aspiring buyers. ","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,296],"tags":[1838,1788,1839,232,1840,1841,586,416,1842],"class_list":["post-20505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-akron","tag-akron-cleveland-association-of-realtors","tag-consumer","tag-consumer-advocacy","tag-homebuyer-education","tag-local-housing-assistance","tag-ohio","tag-realtor-party","tag-regional-media-outreach"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}