Mike Browning

Tag: Investment Property

  • The Ones You Never Heard About

    The Ones You Never Heard About

    Not every deal I lose track of was a bad one.

    A while back I flagged a property that looked promising. Priced well below recent comps, no obvious defects, decent location. The kind of thing I’d usually already have a home for before I even finished looking at the listing.

    This one, I didn’t.

    I made a couple calls. Nobody was in a spot for it right then. One guy just closed something else. Another was focused on a different area. By the time I got to the third call, somebody else had already put it under contract.

    I never even found out who bought it.

    That’s the part that sticks with me. Not that I lost the deal. I didn’t have a deal to lose. I just didn’t have the right person on the other end of the phone in time.

    It happens more than you’d think.

    Most of what I see isn’t worth a second look. Access, utilities, topography, floodplain, buyer demand, surrounding uses, and a dozen other factors kill most of it before it goes anywhere. But every so often something survives all that, and when it does, it doesn’t wait around.

    The properties that are actually underpriced don’t sit on the market long enough for you to find them on your own. Somebody has to already be looking, already know what you want, and already have your number.

    I think there’s a difference between wanting to hear about a good deal and actually being set up to hear about one.

    If you’re not on my list, you’re not missing out on deals I send. You’re missing out on deals I never get the chance to send, because I didn’t know to call you.

    I’m trying to fix that, one name at a time.

    If you’re an investor and want to be one of the calls I make when something survives the filtering, click below and tell me what you’re looking for.

    No obligation. No pressure. Just a way to make sure you’re one of the calls I get to make instead of one of the ones I don’t.

    Is it a bad idea to be on that list?

    Learn About The MBR Buyers Short List

  • It’s All In How You Look At It

    It’s All In How You Look At It

    We often make things harder in our minds than they really are.

    I’ve heard land investors talk about searching for deals and use the metaphor “like looking for a needle in a haystack.” And I get it. You have to look through a lot of stuff you don’t want to (maybe) find what you do want.

    But think about it a minute.

    And don’t assume rules that nobody spoke.

    Hay is flammable. Needles aren’t.

    Needles are magnetic. Ashes aren’t.

    So if you really want to find that needle, just burn the haystack. Then take a magnet or metal detector to find the needle in the ashes. And you’re done.

    Instead of getting worked up about how hard something sounds, just think it through and see if there’s a creative solution.

    I recently ran a quick search in the greater North Texas area (22 counties). In the land category, there were a little over 4,200 properties available.

    That’s a pretty big haystack. Over 99% of those aren’t going to be suitable for what you’re looking for. Makes it hard to want to start looking.

    And even if you could look through them all, the list changes every day. New properties come on the market. Others sell, expire, get canceled, or get reduced.

    I’ve figured out a way to screen daily for new and reduced properties that appear to be priced well based on recent nearby sales. Burning the haystack, if you will. That leaves me with a much shorter list to run the magnet over.

    Most low-priced properties are cheap for a reason. Floodplain. Access problems. Utility issues. Some other defect that isn’t obvious from the listing. Those get ruled out too.

    Every so often I end up with one or two that are worth a closer look.

    And I have a list of people I alert when that happens.

    But there’s not always a fit.

    It may not be in an area they like. Or it’s more (or less) money than they’re looking to invest. Or maybe they just bought something else.

    So every now and then I end up looking at something I think deserves a closer look and don’t really have the right investor to send it to.

    I’m trying to fix that.

    To hear about opportunities when they survive the filtering, click below and tell me what you’re looking for.

    No obligation. No pressure. Just a way to see what catches my attention before it disappears.

    Would it be a bad idea to know about them?

    Learn More Here

  • Sometimes It Just Works

    Sometimes It Just Works

    But even then, there’s always something when it comes to real estate.

    A few weeks ago one of my clients who’s worked with me over 20 years called and asked me to help him find something pretty specialized. I don’t take that sort of project on all the time, but I did it for him.

    And I’m glad I did.

    I ran a search that day, which flagged two properties. One was basically a perfect fit, so we made a cash offer and closed it yesterday. Less than 30 days from the initial phone call to the closing table.

    Sometimes it just falls into place.

    Thanks to Amin and Perry, listing agent Bill Benton, and the folks at Texas Pioneer Title for making it all go as smoothly as possible.

    When I say as smoothly as possible, I mean everyone was on the same page from end to end. A willing buyer and seller working to get it done.

    But it’s still real estate.

    Even after close to 30 years, it seems like something I’ve never seen before pops up on almost every deal. So you never really know if it’s closing until after it’s done.

    That happened on this one too, but we got it done.

    I don’t do much buyer representation in the way a lot of agents do. For several reasons. I keep my eyes open, and if I see an opportunity I usually know who to take it to. But doing a dedicated search for a specific thing for a specific person, not nearly as often.

    If they were all like the one that closed yesterday, I might change my mind.

    We found exactly what he was looking for, got it under contract quickly, and closed in less than a month.

    Every week I look at hundreds of properties. Most aren’t worth talking about. Some are. And every so often one comes along where my first thought isn’t:

    “Who’s selling this?”

    It’s:

    “Who do I know that should see it?”

    A lot of times I have an answer immediately.

    Sometimes I don’t.

    Wrong area. Wrong deal size. They just bought something else. Whatever the reason, occasionally I end up looking at something I think deserves a closer look and don’t have the right investor to send it to.

    I’m trying to fix that.

    If you’re an investor and would like to hear about opportunities when they come across my desk, click below and tell me what you’re looking for.

    No obligation. No pressure. Just a way for me to know who might be interested when something survives the first round of filtering.

    Is it crazy to think you might want to see the deals I see?

    Learn More Here

  • I Don’t Care How Busy You Are

    I Don’t Care How Busy You Are

    Having lots to do isn’t the goal.

    We all know people who, when you ask how things are going, default to telling you how busy they are.

    Like they think if they say it enough, you’ll assume they must be wildly successful.

    But being busy and being successful aren’t the same thing.

    You can be busy without being successful — I’d say that’s the norm.
    You can also be successful without being busy — I’d say that’s the goal.

    There’s a difference between being busy and “being busy.” Having a lot going on is fine — even healthy — but it has to be intentional.

    For me, I usually have many projects going at any given time.

    Not all of them need attention every day, but there’s pretty much always something I can be pushing ahead.

    And that doesn’t just mean work. Family life matters, too.

    I want time for my kids’ performances, their games, social events — and yes, a little “sharpen-the-saw” leisure time in there somewhere.

    That’s the point of building a business like this: if you do it right, you should have the flexibility to fit in what actually matters.

    I say a lot on here that I’m not glued to my phone. And I’m not.

    But that’s not because I’m screwing off somewhere (okay, sometimes I am).

    Most of the time, it’s because if I’m always working on moving something forward, I can’t stop every time the phone rings.

    I’ll call you back — I promise.

    But by focusing on the task at hand, I actually get more done.

    The point isn’t to rack up the most appointments or have the fullest calendar. Appointments for appointments’ sake are just noise.

    Once I learned that, everything changed for me — and it can for you, too.

    It’s not about being busy.

    There’s no excuse for laziness, either. Focusing your effort in the right places ensures you get a much bigger return on your time.

    I’d rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies. That’s why I don’t just take any listing — I spend my time where it matters.

    Busy is easy.
    Effective is rare.
    And rare is where the results are.

    If you own investment quality real estate, you probably get it already.

    Even if you’re not looking to sell in the next six months to a year, does it ever hurt to know the current market situation?

    And is it ever a bad time to start a conversation with someone who gets it, too?

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
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