How the real estate industry can change the world — for the better

As we face one of the most divisive and violent time periods in our history, a time where many feel helpless and that their dreams for the future may never be fulfilled, it can be tempting to give way to the pessimism — don’t!

We can make a difference together, and here’s what the real estate industry can do to turn the tide.

On the way back from CEO Connect at Facebook headquarters earlier this month, I sat next to Exit Realty CEO Tami Bonnell.

Bonnell and I were talking about how divisive the upcoming Presidential election has become. The conversation then turned to what could be done to bring people back together while simultaneously improving the communities we serve.

I noted an interesting fact from Clotaire Rapaille’s new book Move Up: Why Some Cultures Advance While Others Don’t.

Rapaille points to Singapore as being one of the most profound examples of how a country turned itself around. When Singapore separated from Malyasia in 1964, it had no land, natural resources, economy or agriculture.

Today, Singapore has a surplus of $55 billion, an unemployment rate of 2 percent, and the average person earns $60,000 (U.S.) per year.

Singapore’s leader, Lee Kuan Yew, attributed the country’s success to one word: clean.

Bonnell shared her experience regarding what happens to the neighborhood where they build a Habitat for Humanity house: One year later, the entire neighborhood has improved.

That led me to wonder: What if the real estate community could come together in a massive one-day grassroots effort nationwide to spruce up as many homes and neighborhoods as possible — especially in those areas where the residents may lack the funds or the ability to make those changes themselves?

We both agreed that if the industry put its considerable weight behind an initiative to help our neighborhoods, it had the potential to be a tipping point to change things for the better.

When the door swings open, walk through it

That night my mind was buzzing about how this could work. My experience has been that when I’m supposed to be involved in something, the doors swing open effortlessly. That’s exactly what happened during the next 24 hours.

As I was dashing to a 7 a.m. meeting, I saw Morgan Brown, the COO of Inman, standing in line for coffee. I gave him a 90-second pitch, and he told me he felt Inman staff would be interested in supporting such an event.

Throughout the day, I kept bumping into influencers who were willing to have their companies join the effort.

By the end of the day, I had commitments from CEOs and senior executives from some of the biggest brands in the industry that they would fully support this initiative within their companies.

November 19, 2016 — Spruce Up Day

“Spruce up” means “The act of improving the overall appearance; cleaning up, refurbishing or renovating.”

On November 19, 2016, we are inviting every Inman reader — every real estate professional, affiliate service provider, vendor and their clients — to join us in this effort to spruce up our communities.

The idea is simple. Buy some flats of flowers and plant them, clean up trash from a public area, or help someone else in need to improve something about where they live.

You can ask your sellers if there is someone in their neighborhood who would appreciate your help raking leaves or cleaning up their property.

If you want to go big, make sure that you have the appropriate insurance, written permission to use a public place, and permissions to enter and/or do work on someone else’s property.