On Saturday in New Orleans, Reba McEntire will take the stage along with her manager, Justin McIntosh — a former Nashville Realtor — to headline the general session at the NAR NXT conference, talking entrepreneurship and brand development. But before she left for the Big Easy, she caught up with Inman to talk about real estate — what she loves in a home, what she looks for in an agent and advice on navigating a tricky market.
Since May 2025, McEntire has starred in Realtor.com’s Nearly Home campaign, a sitcom-style series of ads where she offers up her signature tough love to characters who are indecisive, quarreling over homes or just looking for room — funny situations inspired by real-life events. (She also sings an incredibly catchy jingle that’s been stuck in our heads for days!)
The ads are sticky; people often come up to her quoting the “better put a key ring on it” line, which she delivers in a spot called “The One Without the Breakup,” about a couple (gently) arguing over finding “the one” — a home.
The sitcom style of the ads (complete with laugh track and pause for applause) made her immediately comfortable with the role, she said. “I love working with other people, like a team, like a football team or a sports team, or being up on stage with a band … that collaboration is what I love.”
McEntire — who’s sometimes called “The Queen of Country,” has earned gold and platinum albums, multiple Grammys and served as a coach on The Voice — is now starring in her own full-length sitcom on NBC, Happy’s Place, about a woman, Bobbie, who inherits her late father’s tavern in Tennessee along with her newly discovered half-sister.
In addition to their sitcom feel, the Realtor.com spots are meant to highlight the company’s home-search tools, including commute filters and dynamic maps that let users search by lot size, schools and more.
Realtor.com says the campaign style was created to capture the sense of warmth and belonging that makes a house feel like a home. McEntire said that homey feeling is a top priority for her when she’s looking for a property. “It’s got to feel welcoming,” she said. “I love when people say a home has a great feel to it.”
Inman: I imagine you’ve bought and sold your fair share of homes over the years. Are there any lessons you’ve learned the hard way?
Reba McEntire: Oh my gosh, the No. 1 thing is patience. You know when you find something you just absolutely fall in love with, and you get so excited, you want to finish up, buy it and just move in. But it’s a big decision, and you need to make sure you’re thinking with your head, not just your heart.
Do you have any nonnegotiables when looking for a house?
Well, I’m a stickler on a view. I love a view that’s both east and west; you see the sunrise come up, you see the sun set in the evening. But the main thing is it’s got to feel welcoming. And when people walk through our home, I want them to feel comfortable, to feel good. I want to have a little land with a view. It’s really special to me because outdoors is my church. I like to get out, get my feet on the ground and be with nature.
Was there something about your current home that just clicked, that made you just know it was “home”?
My home in Tennessee has two creeks — one on the north side and one on the east side. And man, when I saw that, I said, “Whoa, I love it.” And it’s always the feeling you get when you walk through the door. You can have the prettiest house in the world, but if it doesn’t feel like somewhere you can relax, laugh, and hang out with your friends and family and make memories, what’s the point?
Any homes you’ve ever loved and lost that you still think about?
I’ve learned that you can’t get too attached to something before it’s yours … You know, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you planned it to be. If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out, and if it’s not meant to be, walk away from it. Just know you dodged a bullet.
And there are more fish in the sea, right?
You bet, absolutely.
What made you want to do a campaign with Realtor.com about homebuying?
Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you can ever make in your life, right up there with getting married. And I liked that Realtor.com wanted to show what real people go through in that process and give them tools to help make it a little easier. Because man, you do need help when you get to that point. I love the concept of the commercials bringing in that sitcom humor … People have seen me in sitcoms, and now they’re seeing me as a Realtor, and it’s kind of a sitcom attitude. I just thought I got a big kick out of it. I love to do it.
Your Reba character, whom you played for six seasons, was an agent. Why do you think that made sense for her?
Reba Hart was independent, hardworking and wasn’t afraid to tell somebody what she thought — very blunt, and that’s pretty much me in my real life. So I was just really kind of playing me. Reba Hart was also raising her family, and she was figuring things out as she went along, just like so many real women do. Real estate gave her a career where she could be out working with people, solving problems and also be able to be with her family.
You’re known for tough-love advice in the Realtor.com spots. What’s the toughest-love advice you’d give someone who’s house hunting right now in an undeniably difficult market?
Don’t get married to something too quick. If you can’t afford it, don’t try to think, “Oh, if I do this and this, I can pay for it.” Be honest with yourself.
You’ve got to really sit down, pray about it, think about it, give yourself time. Like the last house I bought, I think I went back three or four times, and the agent finally said, “Are you going to buy this house or not? They’ve got other people interested,” and so I had to make up my mind. And when it felt good in my heart, that’s when I said, “Absolutely, I want this.”
Could you ever see yourself being in real estate if you weren’t a performer?
Oh heck yeah, I love that, and I would also like to flip houses. You know, buy one and fix it up and then sell it.
We write a lot about first-time buyers feeling locked out in this market, and I’d love to hear what you’d say to someone who’s been ‘nearly home,’ as they say, for two years who’s starting to feel discouraged?
I would say don’t give up. If you’re getting discouraged, back off a little bit and just take a breath.
Most of our readers are real estate agents, and I’m curious what your experiences with agents have been like, and if you’ve ever worked with one that stood out?
The best thing anybody can do for me is tell me the truth, even when it’s not what I want to hear. I appreciate somebody who listens, who pays attention to what matters to me and is not just trying to make a sale. A good agent should be somebody you trust to look out for you, and that’s worth an awful lot.
I imagine you’ve worked with a lot of agents in your life.
Not a lot. But the two most recent ones I did trust. The last one drove me around to a lot of houses. I’m a comparison shopper — show me this, show me that, and I can compare. And boy, did she ever do her job. When I went into the house that I bought, I’m like, “Why didn’t she show me this first? Sneaky!”
But she was really good at her job. It was a comparison shopping thing; she knew what I wanted — it was that, exactly.
So you’d probably use her again?
Absolutely.
What’s next for you, on screen, in music and with Realtor.com?
I’m having a great time working on Happy’s Place right now, and music will always be a big part of my life. We’re releasing music all the time, and I feel very blessed that I still get to do what I love and try new things along the way. And I’ve had a blast working with Realtor.com. As for what’s next, I mean, God hasn’t told me yet.
Big Reba fan? NAR NXT attendees who visit the Realtor.com booth on the expo floor Friday can enter for a chance to win a meet-and-greet with Reba following her Saturday session. On Saturday and Sunday, booth visitors can also enter to win officially signed Reba merchandise.
