{"id":21203,"date":"2025-02-10T15:56:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T15:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=21203"},"modified":"2025-02-27T14:22:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T14:22:34","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/vcar-consumer0225","title":{"rendered":"Reaching Residents of Ventura County California Where They Are, the Local REALTOR\u00ae Association Demystifies Complex Housing Issues with Webinars and Podcasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"As we go \u2018to press,\u2019 parts of Ventura County have been ravaged by wildfire, heightening the housing crisis to emergency levels, and making clear communication and public information more important than ever. <\/em><\/p>\n

Ventura County, California has always been a highly desirable place to call home, but there\u2019s a catch: finding a place to live.\u00a0 As far as housing goes, given the local median price, local average income, and extremely restrictive land use policy, it is, in fact, the least affordable county in the country to buy a home.\u00a0 The Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> is getting to the root of the region\u2019s housing issues with a new series of webinars and podcasts supported by NAR\u2019s REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party.<\/p>\n

Though California\u2019s housing crisis dates back at least 50 years, explains Director of Government Affairs Rob Leatherwood, it is clouded by significant public information gaps.\u00a0 \u201cFolks don\u2019t understand how we got here, or how we get out of it.\u00a0 It\u2019s daunting, but not impossible \u2013 there are models \u2013 and it takes an informed public to support constructive solutions and shun candidates or initiatives that will hinder housing progress.\u201d\u00a0 He notes that it also takes some discernment to recognize misinformation and cut through confusing stances; for example, some NIMBY organizations will support policies like rent control because of their negative effects on housing development.<\/p>\n

To begin to educate the community, the association knew it would have to meet people where they are.\u00a0 \u201cNo number of pretty mailers or catchy posts were going to convey the complex information involved in real estate, property rights, taxation, and zoning issues,\u201d says Leatherwood.\u00a0 \u201cWe decided a webinar format that could also be heard as an audio podcast would be the best way to reach our audience.\u201d\u00a0 The project involves him sitting down with an expert guest and embarking on an in-depth, unscripted exploration of a particular housing topic. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s all in plain English, built for the average Joe and Jane, to help everyone understand the issues,\u201d he explains.\u00a0 \u201cAs I told our producer: \u201cI want my mom to watch this and understand 90% of what we\u2019re talking about.\u2019 And though we\u2019re conveying serious information, we try to maintain a relaxed sense of humor to draw people in and keep them engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, a Consumer Advocacy Grant<\/a> from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party has supported an initial season of six 45-to-60-minute segments, featuring, among others, the CEO of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce on a business-prohibitive water policy; the CEO of the Ventura County Housing Trust Fund on the complexities of affordable housing funding; the CEO of the local housing authority rebuilding a community following a natural disaster; and local elected officials on land use policies that prevent affordable housing for agricultural workers.\u00a0 Leatherwood meets each guest in advance for a careful planning session.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s never adversarial.\u00a0 We are giving experts the opportunity to speak directly to the public, and they appreciate that.\u00a0 In fact, all the guests I\u2019ve approached with an invitation have been aware of the series, and eager to join in the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response from members and the community has also been entirely positive.\u00a0 \u201cVentura is a \u2018big small town,\u2019 and people are recognizing me on the street as the housing podcast guy,\u201d reports Leatherwood.\u00a0 \u201cThat was never the goal, but it means we have an audience!\u201d Indeed, the first six webinars have received nearly 90K total views so far, on YouTube and Facebook; the podcast versions are available on all the usual sources and platforms.<\/p>\n

Leatherwood was new to this kind of media production, but he shopped around and figured out the best way to get it done.\u00a0 \u201cI prefer to stay in my lane, and it was fairly easy to find others with expertise in media.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been working with an independent producer who provides a studio, does the recordings, and cleans up the audio and video tracks for me and our in-house marketing director to edit for final distribution, including short promotional clips.\u201d\u00a0 The rest of the grant funding is spent on advertising.\u00a0 \u201cGoogle ads are really good at finding your market,\u201d he says; \u201cwe have to credit them for all the views we\u2019ve been getting. \u00a0And that means we\u2019ll be reclaiming the narrative, and, hopefully, effecting meaningful change in the region\u2019s housing landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

With continued support from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party, Leatherwood plans to up production to a monthly schedule in 2025 and bring on more municipal staff as guests.\u00a0 He whole-heartedly encourages any local associations considering applying to the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party grant programs: \u201cThe staff at NAR is wonderful to work with!\u00a0 You\u2019ll figure out pretty quickly that it\u2019s a pretty painless process that can lead to real results.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> is working to educate the public on complex housing and real estate issues through single-subject, easy-access webinars and podcasts, contact Director of Government Affairs Rob Leatherwood at rob@vcrealtors.com or 806-252-2544.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even before the massive devastation of housing stock by the fires in southern California, Ventura County, like much of the nation, was experiencing a serious housing shortage. The issues affecting the creation of new and affordable housing are too complex to fit on a mailer or a social media post, so the Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS\u00ae has embarked on an education campaign of webinars and podcasts. A Consumer Advocacy Outreach Grant from the REALTOR\u00ae Party is supporting the project.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[381,232,1594],"class_list":["post-21203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-california","tag-consumer-advocacy","tag-consumer-advocacy-outreach-grant"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21203","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=21203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21256,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21203\/revisions\/21256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}