Living on the coast is a dream for many, but it comes with a catch: erosion, flooding, and pollution can chip away at one of the biggest investments most people will ever make. To help real estate professionals counsel clients on these issues, Reserve Training and Engagement programs are creating learning opportunities focused on coastal ecosystems and resilience strategies.

While real estate professionals cannot be expected to double as engineers or scientists, understanding concepts like living shorelines helps them spot potential opportunities and challenges, and point clients toward the right resources when questions go beyond their expertise. The result? A more informed real estate industry—valued at roughly $179 billion in 2025—better equipped to help buyers and sellers navigate the realities of living along America’s coasts. Here are some highlights from Reserves around the System.

South Carolina

South Carolina’s eight coastal counties are seeing rapid population growth, drawing many people who are experiencing the coastal landscape for the first time. To help these new residents navigate that, the ACE Basin and North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserves partnered with S.C. Sea Grant Consortium to develop Calling the Coast Home, the first training of this kind for real estate professionals, covering topics like water quality, coastal ecosystems, flooding, flood maps, wetlands, and coastal regulations.

The reasoning behind the program comes down to who new residents actually talk to first. Real estate professionals are often the primary point of contact for newcomers. Recognizing this opportunity, the Reserves developed continuing education courses, shaped by input from real estate professionals that arm agents with up to date science on coastal issues they can then share with clients.

North Carolina

The North Carolina Reserve offers continuing education for real estate professionals on topics like barrier island development rules, living shorelines, and water quality protection. A highlight of these training sessions is the Interactive Watershed Game, in which participants work together to reduce pollution using strategies such as vegetated buffers, permeable surfaces, and conservation easements. This provides a hands-on understanding of how development decisions can ripple through local waterways and coastal communities.

In 2025, the Reserve partnered with Cape Fear Realtors, Brunswick County Association of Realtors, and Outer Banks Association of Realtors to bring these trainings to agents. Workshop evaluations showed that many participants left with a new understanding of these issues, had plans to share what they learned with clients, and believed this kind of training should be required for every agent selling property along the coast.

New Hampshire

The Great Bay Reserve‘s Living With Water workshop helps real estate professionals better understand and communicate flood risk in coastal New Hampshire. Developed in partnership with New Hampshire Sea Grant, the New Hampshire Coastal Program, the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and the New Hampshire Coastal Adaptation Workgroup, the program addresses growing concerns around insurance availability and increasing flood exposure from the White Mountains to the Gulf of Maine, with a strong focus on tidal waters.

The first part of the training focuses on how to care for the ecosystems surrounding coastal homes, offering practical resources on wetlands, shorelands, and water quality that real estate professionals can share with clients. The second part covers tides, flood zones, regulations, and insurance, giving them the tools to help clients assess risk. Together, the sessions equip agents with practical knowledge to help guide clients through high-stakes decisions. A companion podcast highlights how flood risk has become a routine part of real estate conversations, with insights on integrating resilience into client discussions.

Georgia

More residents are moving to coastal Georgia from outside the region, and many arrive unfamiliar with local marsh ecosystems, lake banks, and the wildlife. Real estate professionals are often the first people new homeowners turn to with questions, whether about an alligator near the dock or how to handle stormwater on a new lot. This puts them in a unique position to point clients toward good information.

In response, the Sapelo Island Reserve has created a suite of trainings for those working in real estate. Coastal Communities 101 covers the basics that come up most often in a sale, including flood insurance, community resiliency, landscaping, and stormwater management. Living with Wildlife tackles the questions new homeowners tend to ask once they’ve settled in, like how to handle alligators, snakes, and other wildlife near the marsh or lake bank. And a two-part Green Infrastructure series digs into nature-based solutions such as living shorelines, buffers, and stormwater landscaping, giving participants the tools to spot when these approaches might be a good fit for a property and how to talk through them with clients. 

Additional offerings include Wetlands Identification, Brownfield Assessments & Funding Course, and Coastal Green Communities, an eco-recognition program that complements their real estate and community leadership trainings by providing homeowner associations, golf courses, and local landowners with access to science-based guidance, practical resources, and recognition for implementing environmentally responsible practices that strengthen coastal communities.

Across all of these courses, the goal is the same: prepare real estate professionals with reliable information so they can be seen as a trusted resource by clients and in the community.