There are few real estate luminaries who can claim careers as storied as Bob Hale, CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors® (HAR), who this past weekend marked a 37-year career leading one of the nation’s most influential associations and MLSs.
Hale, who announced his retirement in early 2024, is stepping down at the end of this year, but was joined by industry luminaries and HAR’s staff for a star-studded dinner in Houston to reflect on his long and innovative career, where colleagues remembered him for his many contributions to the industry.
“Bob personifies our industry’s desire to consistently improve and look forward, providing greater value to all of the real estate professionals he serves, and the buyers and sellers they serve”, said RISMedia Founder and CEO John Featherston, who attended the dinner. “Bob is a shining example of a person whose career has been spent in defense of the American Dream of homeownership.”
Hale will be succeeded by longtime HAR executive René Galvan, currently the organization’s EVP.
After almost 40 years with Hale at the helm of HAR, the industry came together to reflect on his forward-looking career, which saw him lead HAR to seize on the then-nascent technology of the internet before many competitors, as well as build the state’s powerful advocacy arm from the ground up.
Among the guests were National Association of Realtors® President Kevin Sears and Houston mayor John Whitmire, along with dozens and dozens of other luminaries.
“Bob is the North Star for our industry, and should be added to the Mount Rushmore of real estate,” said Featherston during his remarks at the retirement gala, entertaining the crowd with an image of Hale on the iconic national landmark.
In 1973, the HAR board of directors hired Hale as legal counsel, and in 1988, he was tapped as president and CEO—the position he continues to hold today. Along the way, Hale has received countless real estate and communication industry honors, including an RISMedia Newsmaker Hall of Fame induction in 2020.
HAR’s success in the technology and MLS world is in large part due to Hale’s savvy in the 1990s, as he pushed forward with a website while much of the country resisted the digital revolution of real estate. HAR.com subsequently struck partnerships with other MLSs and brokerages to expand the platform.
Maybe one of Hale’s most long-lasting accomplishments is how iconic the HAR brand became with consumers during his tenure. HAR’s consumer-facing website gets more views in Houston than any other real estate website—the only major metro in the country where that is true, HAR said.
In a 2024 interview on the association’s HAR TV media channel, Hale talked about disclosing in passing to his dog’s veterinarian that he worked for HAR.com. “The vet said, ‘Oh my god, (HAR.com) is the greatest thing ever invented in the history of the world!’ And we now get special treatment for the puppy, due to HAR.com,” Hale laughed.
