Mike Browning

Tag: Cooke County Land Sales

  • If They’re Your Agent, Why Does It Feel Like the Real Sales Job Was on You?

    If They’re Your Agent, Why Does It Feel Like the Real Sales Job Was on You?

    Do you want a guide at your side, or a closer at your back?

    Yesterday I talked about Jerry Jones, maybe the most un-okay guy in the world.

    Today, let’s talk about maybe the most okay group you’ll ever meet:

    Real estate agents.

    You know the type. Fancy car. Designer clothes. Buzzwords. Always closing. Talking fast.

    Not the best listener. (To be polite.)

    Here’s the truth: most of them aren’t making anywhere near the money they project. But they feel they have to look successful. Image is everything.

    That means taking any listing they can, even if it’s not their lane. Fake it til you make it.

    Land, houses, whatever. They’ll wing it. Say whatever they need to say to get your signature before you talk to anyone else.

    And when winging it goes wrong, ethics can get loose.

    Best case? You’ve got a funny story about hiring the wrong person.

    Worst case? You’ve got a horror story.

    I’m a little better at reading people than most. But this one isn’t hard to spot, even if you don’t see exactly what’s going on. You just know something feels off.

    If you’ve ever hired one, you saw the warning signs.

    But you did it anyway.

    Why?

    Probably because you told yourself:

    “They’re a great salesperson. That’s who I want on my side.”

    Except the real sales job was done on you.

    Here’s the question:

    If someone has to work that hard to get your business, how hard will they work to protect your interests?

    I don’t really look the part. I don’t need to.

    I’m not trying to sell you — I’m trying to guide you.

    If I’m doing my job right, you might not see me until closing.

    If we do meet, you’ll notice no designer logos (I don’t advertise for free), no buzzwords, no pressure.

    And no pitch.

    If any selling happens, it might be you telling me why we’re a good fit.

    If you want a pitchman, there’s plenty to choose from.

    If you want an actual professional and honest advocate, click below.

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  • Being the Smartest Person in the Room Is Overrated — Unless You Know How to Hide It

    Being the Smartest Person in the Room Is Overrated — Unless You Know How to Hide It

    Some people would argue I don’t have much experience in this…

    Just after the mortgage crisis, there were vacant lots everywhere and only a handful of buyers. I represented one of the few builders looking to acquire. We met with an investment group that had been buying lots to see if there was a fit.

    Realistically, a deal probably wasn’t going to happen regardless — the timing wasn’t right, and pricing for builders and sellers was miles apart.

    But this one was doomed from the start.

    The leader for the investors was sharp, but couldn’t resist proving it.

    Our builder’s CEO? Same thing.

    Two smart guys locked in a measuring contest, and the rest of us just watched it die in real time.

    Not long after, my guy passed acquisitions to someone a little less abrasive and focused on his CEO role. Fifteen years later, that company is publicly traded and one of the largest homebuilders in the country.

    The other guy? Not quite as good. Overconfidence led to overleverage, which led to prison.

    I hear he gets out soon, but I won’t be knocking down doors to deal with him again.

    Jim Camp talks about okayness in Start With No: In any negotiation, only one person can feel totally “okay.” Your job is to make sure it’s them.

    (You can buy Start With No here)

    If my guy had just let the other guy show how smart he was, without trying to match him move-for-move it might have been different. Like I said, we probably wouldn’t have made a deal that day, but there would’ve been a better chance of future deals.

    It’s why Columbo solved every case. He looked unprepared and harmless so the criminal let their guard down. Same principle. You don’t have to actually be bumbling; you just have to let them think they’re in control.

    If you walk into a room and everyone immediately knows you’re the smartest person there, you’ve already screwed up. People don’t like a smarty-pants — especially one who makes them feel like the slowest kid in class.

    That doesn’t mean intelligence isn’t valuable. It just means you don’t win by flashing it.

    I’m not recommending clumsiness as a tactic (I’m not big on tactics — I like principles). But just as an experiment, next time you go to a meeting “forget” your pen so you have to borrow one. Or something equally minor.

    Watch how the dynamic changes because you let the other party feel “okay.”

    What’s this got to do with selling real estate? Maybe not much directly. But I think you see the applications — both in how I deal with my clients and with our counterparts on the other side of a deal.

    As for meetings, I try to avoid those as much as I can. And deal strictly in email. I do my best to write clearly — and keep out the tpyos.

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  • If You Don’t Control It, Don’t Worry About It

    If You Don’t Control It, Don’t Worry About It

    That Doesn’t Mean Don’t Think Ahead

    If you’re my age (or close, or even older), you probably remember Tommy Lasorda. And remember him fondly—unless maybe you’re a Yankees fan.

    For those who don’t know, Lasorda was a long-time manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A larger-than-life character.

    He had a way of boiling big ideas down into one-liners.

    One of my favorites:

    “The only way I’d worry about the weather is if it snows on our side of the field and not theirs.”

    Perfect. The conditions are the same for both teams. If it’s raining, it’s raining for everybody. If the wind’s blowing in from left, it’s blowing in for everybody.

    His point? Don’t waste energy worrying about things that affect everyone equally—and that you can’t change anyway.

    If a game is scheduled for tomorrow, it doesn’t do any good to stress about whether it’s going to rain. All the players and coaches still need to plan to show up, prepare, and play. The manager still needs to prepare under the assumption the game is happening.

    That doesn’t mean you ignore the possibility. You might think through contingencies—like what to do if it gets rained out, or how to handle a double-header the next day. But you don’t lose sleep over a “maybe” that hasn’t happened yet.

    Same in business. Once you’ve committed to something, you move forward and don’t burn energy on what you can’t control. Sure, you account for what you’d do if something changes, but you don’t let “what-ifs” run your life.

    Once a property is listed, it doesn’t help either of us to worry about a sudden market shift. If it happens, we adjust. Until then, we focus on what we can do today.

    Property goes under contract? No sense fretting about whether the buyer will find something in due diligence that spooks them. We stick to the plan. If something comes up, we deal with it then.

    I recently listed a property for a family with four decision-makers. That’s usually a recipe for headaches, but this one went surprisingly smoothly—except for one of them who was a constant worrier.

    We got it under contract, and I’d get weekly calls: “What if this happens?” Always about things none of us could control. And sure enough, the first buyer dropped out. We ended up selling to a better buyer. So in the end, it worked out… but it wasn’t a fun ride.

    Pro tip: don’t be that kind of client.

    When something is outside my control—and it’s the same for everyone in the deal—I don’t waste time worrying about it. I focus on the moves I can make: pricing strategy, negotiations, presentation, due diligence. Those are the parts where I can make a difference.

    Lasorda couldn’t make the sun shine in Dodger Stadium. But he could decide who was starting on the mound, how to set the lineup, and when to stomp out of the dugout for one of his “friendly chats” with the umpire.

    If you’ve never seen one of those chats, search Lasorda meltdown on YouTube. Just maybe don’t watch it with kids around or at full volume if you’re offended by gratuitous profanity.

    Bottom line: If the weather’s the same on both sides of the field, stop worrying about the clouds. Focus on the game you can play.

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  • How to Stop Failing Before Breakfast

    How to Stop Failing Before Breakfast

    Got your goals wrong? You don’t have a chance.

    If you read business development books (or personal development books in general) for long enough, you start to notice they all circle the same handful of ideas. Not identical, but close enough that after a while you see the patterns.

    That’s not a bug. It’s a feature. Most people need to hear something several times before it sticks. And if you hear it in different words from different people, there’s a better chance one of those versions will click.

    One idea that comes up over and over is goal setting. Which is good, because most people are terrible at it. Not because they aim too high—usually the opposite—but because they approach it the wrong way. So they set goals that, at best, make them miserable in the process of chasing them. Which of course makes success even more remote.

    Scott Adams (the Dilbert guy) puts it plainly in his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big:

    Systems > Goals.

    You can control a system. You can’t control results.

    Take weight loss. Most of us could stand to lose a few pounds. But setting a “goal” of losing 20 pounds? Adams says that’s a terrible idea. For one thing, when you step on the scale each morning, you’ll almost always be disappointed. You haven’t hit the number yet. Not a great way to start the day.

    More importantly, you don’t control when—or if—the weight comes off. Hormones, metabolism, random life stuff… all of it matters. And what if you start exercising, lose fat, and gain an equivalent amount of muscle? You’ve actually improved, but the scale hasn’t moved. Now you feel like you’ve failed when you haven’t.

    A better approach is a system. Eat a certain way. Exercise a certain amount. That’s something you can control daily. Check your results periodically, and if they’re not where you want them, adjust the system.

    You’re succeeding when you run the system well, regardless of the short-term outcome. That’s a much better way to live than waking up every day and feeling behind.

    It’s not that you shouldn’t think big. You should. But instead of staring at the big objective and throwing up your hands when it doesn’t fall into place right away, do this: picture the big goal, then work backward to the smaller steps that will get you there. Figure out what you need to do daily to accomplish the first step, then do that. Periodically check your progress. Adjust if needed.

    It’s simple because it is. And it will get you there faster than you think. Without feeling like a failure before you’ve even had your coffee.

    What does this have to do with me? Plenty.

    I don’t chase listings or start the year with a dollar figure in mind. I focus on treating people right, adding to my knowledge base, and looking for opportunities to help people. That way I succeed almost every day—and the results I’ve had are better than anything I could have planned a few years ago.

    When you’re ready for me to do the same for you, I’m here.

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  • Why Radio Hosts Are on the Radio

    Why Radio Hosts Are on the Radio

    For their sake, I hope they don’t negotiate their own contracts

    This isn’t a sports blog, but I talk about negotiation a lot — and this is all over local media right now. It’s worth looking at:

    The Micah Parsons Extension
    (aka “look what an idiot Dumb Ol’ Jerry is for not doing it sooner”)

    Lately I’ve been hearing a popular take on local radio: If the Cowboys had moved in February, they could’ve signed Parsons for $37M/year. Now it’s going to cost $43–45M.

    If true, then the team probably cost themselves $25M+ over the life of the deal. Not to mention valuable cap space, which is a fan’s real concern.

    I would bet if that deal could have happened, the team would have been all over it.

    The problem?

    It would make zero sense for Parsons to sign any deal in February, much less one based on the market at that time. It’s such a no-brainer that it doesn’t even make sense for the team to make the offer.

    Before I go on:

    • I’m not defending Jerry. I’ve been watching this team since Super Bowl XII, and I have adult kids who weren’t alive the last time they made a conference championship. Lord knows plenty of mistakes have been made.
    • I’m also not talking about whether it would’ve made sense to extend Parsons before last season or even earlier. That’s a different conversation. With hindsight, yeah, maybe they should have tried. Philly does that well. Dallas has done it before, too — Diggs, Steele, Zeke, none of which are pointed to as smart moves now. We just extended Ferguson, hopefully it works out better. Parsons may have been a better bet than those guys, but again, not the point here.

    The media logic goes like this:

    • Parsons will be the top-paid non-QB in the league (or close).
    • $37M/year would’ve been in that ballpark in February.
    • Ergo, Jerry should’ve signed him then.

    Here’s the problem: It takes two sides to make a deal.

    Everyone knows salaries go up. Parsons knows it. His agent knows it. Even Jerry knows it.

    So why on earth would Parsons sign at $37M in February?

    If his agent let him do that, he’d deserve to be run out of the business for malpractice. Micah seems like an uncommonly intelligent guy, he’d have probably fired his agent if he so much as suggested the idea.

    Here’s the facts:

    1. Parsons has more leverage than any non-QB right now.
    2. When he signs, it’ll be at or near the top of the market.
    3. Those numbers only move one direction.
    4. There’s almost no injury risk between February and August, so there’s no reason to rush.

    If you’re Parsons, why sign early? You wait. Every new deal bumps your number higher.

    The reason this deal isn’t done isn’t because Jerry doesn’t want it or doesn’t understand basic math.
    It’s because waiting is in Parsons’ best interest.

    That’s how leverage works. This is his big shot to set the market, and he’s maximizing it.

    As he should. Is he saying the right thing publicly about wishing it had been done long ago? Yes, but that doesn’t change the smart way to play it.

    What’s this got to do with real estate?

    Not much — unless you’re Micah’s agent, in which case you’re probably rubbing your hands.

    But when you sell your land or property, you want someone who can think through the why behind negotiations, not just default to “they’re dumb because they didn’t do what sounds good for the other side.”

    And you know where to find that.

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
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  • Maybe It’s Not the Market

    Maybe It’s Not the Market

    Aggressive and stubborn I can deal with. Unreasonable and immovable? Not so much.

    A few years back, I sent a batch of letters to landowners hoping to pick up listings.

    Can’t remember if I got anything from that run, but I do remember one landowner telling me she wasn’t interested — now or ever.

    I remembered it because a while later, I saw the tract pop up on the market.

    Guess she changed her mind.

    No problem there — happens all the time. The guy who got the listing was a friend of mine who grew up in that area. He knew the family. It made sense they’d go with him.

    Honestly, I was glad she’d told me she wasn’t interested. Even if she’d changed her mind, I wasn’t really in the running. In this business, most people have their agent in mind before you ever get a chance to make a pitch. It saved me a lot of time and effort.

    Especially after what I learned later.

    The property was listed around $6.5M. Price didn’t seem crazy. I even showed it to a few clients, though it wasn’t a fit.

    It went under contract a couple of times before falling out. I called my broker friend to see what was going on.

    He said there were minor easement issues — nothing fatal, but they’d take time to clean up. The kind of thing that might warrant a small price adjustment, but maybe not at all for the right buyer.

    The real problem?

    Zero flexibility from the sellers.

    Need a little extra time? Tough. Close or don’t.

    Want a price adjustment? Double tough.

    It was the time part that stuck with me. Like I’ve said before: at higher price points, buyers usually want all the hair cleaned up. And it’s often worth it if you trust them to close.

    I get holding out for your number. But if it’s clear the market won’t bear it, sometimes it’s smarter to wait than to keep burning daylight.

    That listing eventually expired. Expired listings can be a good source of business — but did I chase it?

    Not a chance.

    Today, I saw it come back on with a new broker. At $7.6M.

    I’m not holding my breath. But at least I’m not banging my head on the wall either.

    As I said the other day, it can make sense to list a little above market on land. “Market” is fuzzy, and it’s always moving.

    And if you’re my client, you’re always in control. My role is to give you the information, answer your questions, and try to help you get where you want to go. Not steer you into doing what I think is best.

    But there’s a difference between being aggressive and being a stick‑in‑the‑mud seller who wastes everyone’s time.

    If you’re in the first camp, you’re probably my kind of person and we should talk when you’re ready.

    Just click below.

    If you’re in the second, I’d rather not waste either of our time.

    I’m sure you can relate.

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  • Leverage Isn’t Just for Car Dealers

    Leverage Isn’t Just for Car Dealers

    Listing while the leverage is on your side makes sense

    One of the reasons car dealerships are so frustrating is simple: they understand leverage.

    If you’re on a car lot, odds are you need a car more than you just want one. Maybe you’re not desperate enough to drive off today, but you’re on a clock.

    They know it. They use it.

    The best time to buy a car is when you don’t need one. You could walk away from anything less than a great deal. But then, it often doesn’t make financial sense to make a big purchase before you have to—even if it’s technically a screaming deal.

    The job market works the same way. Most people don’t start looking until they’re unemployed. That’s the worst time—because you have no leverage.

    My take? Your “real job” is always finding your next, better job. Even while you’re working. That way you only move when the deal is clearly in your favor. If it’s not better, stick where you are.

    Spare me the “loyalty” speeches from employers. If it makes good business sense to cut you loose, it would happen yesterday. You know it, I know it, and they know it. Beat them to the punch.

    Residential real estate? More like cars. When people sell a house, they usually have to do it now—because they’ve been transferred, are building, or have already bought something else. They take what the market gives them.

    Could they make better deals by selling when they didn’t need to? Sometimes. But moving costs, timing, and logistics usually mean they’re stuck navigating the pressure game.

    Land is different. It’s more like the job market—if you approach it right. If you own property you’re not living on, there’s usually no deadline. You don’t have to sell—but that doesn’t mean a deal can’t come along that makes sense.

    And land values swing more than most people notice. Sometimes a property just checks the boxes for a buyer, and they surprise you with what they’ll pay.

    In the residential market, pricing too high almost always backfires. It won’t appraise, loans won’t work, and you either get offers at market—or nothing.

    With land, a price above market might still work. You’re under no pressure, so it doesn’t hurt to put it out there and wait.

    Not stupid high—if it’s worth around $1M, I’m not putting it out there at $5M.

    But 25–30% above recent comps? That might be worth a shot.

    Because you never know.

    With low holding costs, most people think waiting to sell land doesn’t cost anything. But missing the perfect buyer because your hook wasn’t in the water could cost plenty.

    The only real way to miss out is to not try at all.

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
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  • Subtract the Stupid

    Subtract the Stupid

    Remove the dumb stuff. What’s left usually works fine

    Back in my college days, I ran into a little issue with parking.

    Being broke, I didn’t want to pay for a parking pass. So I parked at meters — which cost more over time but less up front. (There’s a lesson in that, too.)

    The problem? The meters only sold one hour at a time. Classes were an hour long. If you parked 10 minutes before class, and left 10–15 minutes after, you were pushing it with just an hour on the meter.

    Could I have just bought two hours? Sure. But I was broke… and stubborn.

    At a big-city campus, maybe this wouldn’t matter. At mine? Parking enforcement made hawks look lazy. And the tickets started piling up.

    So did I fix it by putting more money in the meters? Or paying for a pass?

    No. I just quit driving and started walking.

    I lived about a mile from campus. Not a great walk in bad weather, but usually fine. And it had a lot of benefits:

    • I quit getting parking tickets.
    • I got some exercise.
    • I stayed on campus between classes and actually studied instead of driving home.

    In other words, I got a lot of benefit just by not doing something instead of adding more.

    In his Incerto series, Nassim Taleb calls this idea Via Negativa — The Negative Way.

    Translation: You usually get better results by removing what’s harmful instead of adding what might help.

    In health:

    • Persistent heartburn? Stop eating the garbage that causes it instead of carrying around a pharmacy.
    • Headache every morning? Cut the booze before you double your Advil budget.

    In finance:

    • Before hustling harder, cancel the subscriptions you forgot you had. Free money in three clicks.

    In life:

    • Turn off the phone notifications. Way cheaper than the next productivity fad.

    In my business:

    • I’m listing a property for a widow whose husband’s name is still on the title. Can’t sell it until we fix that. Easy fix. Big result.
    • Another property? Great spot for a convenience store… except the zoning requires an SUP, and the city says “no thanks.” Knowing that early lets us focus marketing elsewhere instead of wasting time — ours or theirs.

    Bottom line: Remove the roadblocks. Cut the noise. Subtract the problems.

    That’s Via Negativa — and it usually works a lot better than duct-taping “improvements” on top of a mess.

    Stop spraying perfume, just get rid of whatever stinks.

    If you want to find the problems before your buyers do, just reach out when you’re ready.

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
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  • To Stand Out, You Have to Be Different

    To Stand Out, You Have to Be Different

    Not just say I’m different—actually do things different.

    Most agents will tell you the greatest compliment they can get is a referral. If not in person, then in their direct mail pieces or—definitely—in the PS of every email they send.

    I disagree.

    Referrals are great, of course. One of the biggest challenges new agents face is simply finding clients.

    Marketing ain’t cheap. Referrals are like free money. If you get enough of them, it starts to feel like clients are chasing you. That’s when you’re winning the game.

    But the compliment I like best?

    When someone says I do things different—and how much they appreciate it.

    I was recently talking to one of my clients, Craig C. He heads up an investment firm that includes some pretty heavy hitters. I won’t name them, but if you live in North Texas and drive around at all, you see their name all the time.

    They don’t buy everything—but when something checks the boxes, they can move fast and close big deals.

    The kind of client you love to work with—if you can get them to work with you.

    We were talking about a deal I’d brought him, and some of the issues involved. He said:

    “I know you like to sell things just like everyone else, but I really appreciate how you point out the potential hair up front. Not every broker does that, and it’s really a big help to us.”

    Loved hearing it.

    But here’s the truth—I’m helping myself just as much (if not more) than I’m helping him.

    These are sophisticated investors. All the issues I pointed out were going to come up anyway—along with some we probably don’t even know about yet. By flagging them early, I help them decide if it’s worth digging in.

    Saves them time. Saves me time.

    We’ve all got the same 24 hours, and nobody likes to waste ‘em.

    But more than that—it builds trust.

    When I send something over, they actually look at it. Because they know I’ve already done some filtering.

    And if they need help with something else, they may not call me every time—they work with a lot of good brokers.

    But I’m on the short list.

    Which is kind of like a referral on steroids.

    It also leads to traditional referrals. In this segment, you tend to deal with the same people again and again. Word gets around fast on the ones who cut corners. On the flip side, just being on good terms with a group like this is often enough for other large operators to take you seriously.

    It just keeps on giving—if you do it right.

    The best part?

    You don’t have to be a big shot to benefit from all this.

    If you want the same kind of straight-up advice and top-tier brokerage—just call.

    Or just go with the same old same old, and miss out.

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
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  • Question from the Peanut Gallery

    Question from the Peanut Gallery

    If you’re asking this, you’ve missed the point

    In response to my recent post about meeting the standard—and why I don’t work for any rate below my standard fee—someone asked:

    “Do you really think you’re worth that much?”

    Yes, I do.

    Probably more, if I’m being honest.

    But here’s the better question:

    If you’re looking for someone to help you negotiate what might be one of the biggest transactions of your life, how smart is it to hire the person who can’t even stick up for their own fee?

    Obviously, you have to make your own decisions.

    But during the process, you need a pro in your corner. Someone who’s going to stick up for you. Someone who knows when to push and when to wait—and who’s not going to nudge you into a mediocre offer just to wrap things up and move on.

    So, who do you want?

    The guy who curled up in a ball and said “OK” the moment you asked him to cut his fee—then quietly resents you for asking, and himself for giving in?

    Or the guy who held firm, grateful for a client willing to pay what he asked for—so he’s all-in on getting you the best deal possible?

    You might think this is about greed. Or ego.

    It’s not.

    It’s about credibility. And about how I operate.

    Here’s the math:

    When someone asks me for a discount, they’re usually talking about 1% of the total deal. Maybe 2%, if we are talking about a true miser.

    So on a $1M transaction, we’re talking $10,000 to $20,000.

    Not chump change. But also not massive in the context of the whole thing.

    And if you’ve got the right people on your side, how likely is it that we could negotiate that much—or more—right back into the deal? Just by being patient, strategic, and having someone on your side who knows what they’re doing?

    Pretty likely I’d say, even if something like that can’t be promised (or really even measured)

    Meanwhile, the agent on the other side (who hopefully is working at a discount) might be more interested in closing than maximizing. They’re already underwater. They need the deal done. And they might just push their client to give a little extra to make it happen.

    Every deal is different. But the principle’s the same.

    When you hire someone who’s talented and pay them what they’re worth, a few things happen:

    You feel represented.

    You stop wondering if you’re being worked.

    And hopefully you’ll walk away with a better result—and a better experience.

    If you’ve only got one property to sell, does it make sense to jeopardize the whole thing over what amounts to peanuts?

    Didn’t think so.

    So don’t miss out when it matters.

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
    Get a FREE, no obligation report on what it could sell for today.
    Get Your Lot Valuation

    Own land instead?
    Get a report for that here:
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