Ep. 20 - What Real Estate Brokerages Actually Want From Technology with Ashley Stinton
What do brokerages actually want from technology? Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner of NAR REACH, decides which real estate technology companies get to scale across the largest organized real estate market in the world. Here is what she sees most founders getting wrong. Trillions of dollars are flowing into PropTech, but the gap between a great demo and real Realtor adoption is where most companies die.
In this episode of CRE Unplugged, host Ryan Elazari sits down with Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner of NAR REACH for a ground-level breakdown of what brokerages actually want from technology and where residential real estate innovation is heading next.
The conversation covers the two biggest mistakes founders make when selling into brokerages, why the top down approach into franchise brands rarely translates to agent adoption, and why a champion inside the organization is the difference between a tool that gets used and a tool that gets forgotten. Stinton also tackles where robotics are realistically headed in construction and multifamily, why the digitization of the real estate transaction is finally accelerating, and how AI photo disclosure policy is reshaping the trust conversation between brokerages and consumers.
Show Notes:
0:10: Introducing Ashley Stinton
1:32: Chicago vs New York: The Pizza Debate
5:07: From Coca-Cola and 3M to Real Estate: Why the Path Was Not Linear
8:46: Two Biggest Mistakes Tech Founders Make Selling Into Brokerages
12:14: What Global REACH Markets Reveal About US Real Estate Gaps
14:40: Climate Tech, Property Resiliency, and the Trillionaire Thesis
18:30: Why Most Tech Dies After the Demo
22:55: Robotics in Construction and Multifamily: What Is Realistic for 2026
26:35: AI Photo Disclosure Policy and the Trust Problem Facing Brokerages
31:51: The Themes Shaping the Next Five Years of Residential Real Estate
39:29: The One Thing Realtors Should Focus On in the Next Twelve Months
41:13: Ryan's Takeaways
GUEST BIO
Ashley Stinton is the Managing Partner of NAR REACH, the scale-up program operated by Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors. Based in Chicago, she oversees the US residential program and has supported the program's expansion into global markets including the UK. She is the person responsible for identifying which PropTech companies are ready to scale across the housing market and connecting them with the Realtor community that can actually drive adoption. Before real estate, Stinton built her career at Coca-Cola and 3M, working with enterprise accounts across the construction, home improvement, and consumer goods space. That cross-sector background gives her a distinct perspective on how legacy industries adopt new technology and what it takes for early stage companies to break through at the enterprise level.
If you love what you hear, please take a moment to rate and review us. Your feedback helps us grow and improve!
Connect With Us
📧 Email: info@creunplugged.com
🌐 Website: www.creunplugged.com
📺 YouTube: @CREUnplugged
💼 LinkedIn: CRE Unplugged
📱Instagram: @CREUnplugged
This episode is sponsored by our awesome partner, HILO, making connectivity and engagement a breeze in commercial real estate.