Mike Browning

Tag: Land Brokerage

  • The Three People You Need

    The Three People You Need

    Finding the customer is only one of them.

    I was listening to something the other day that stuck with me, although I can’t remember who said it. To have a successful business, you only need three people:

    One to find the customers, one to take care of the customers, and one to keep the first two guys out of jail.

    Kind of said in jest, but pretty accurate if you think about it. It doesn’t actually have to be three different people, but there are three main functions. Sort of a three-legged stool.

    Sales/Marketing (find the customers), Management/Execution (take care of the customers), and Compliance (stay out of jail or court).

    They don’t have to be different people, and some of those jobs can be handled by outside professionals. But if you’re dealing with a company that overemphasizes one or ignores another, you’re asking for trouble.

    As a broker, I work on commission. Finding clients is the first step to that, but if I just tell people what I think they want to hear to get them in the door, I’ve got problems.

    If I tell you your property is worth $2M when it’s probably worth $700K just to get you to sign a listing, at the very least I’m going to have a hard time executing.

    And I’ve started the relationship by telling you something I didn’t believe myself.

    But people do similar things every day. It matters who you do business with.

    I can tell you how I try to operate, but you’re probably better off hearing it from people who’ve actually done business with me.

    “I’ve worked with Mike for over 20 years on land and lot deals. He’s a stand-up, trustworthy guy who is very knowledgeable about his market. He has strong relationships with landowners and a deep network in land development.

    He’s always willing to help with anything we need during due diligence, and he does a great job working with sellers, building relationships, and helping them understand what to expect throughout the process.”

    — Jack L., EVP Acquisitions, national homebuilder (publicly traded)

    “Mike Browning is a credit to the North Texas commercial real estate industry. His market knowledge, diligence, competency and attention to detail have been an asset to our family office for over two decades.

    We had owned the property for more than ten years and decided to sell after closing a partnership. Our main concern was maximizing market value. The transaction was handled with good stewardship from LOI through contract, due diligence and closing.

    If you are serious about selling, let Mike handle it.”

    — Amin B., Repeat Land Client (20+ years)

    Of course, none of that means you need a broker today.

    Even if you’re not considering selling, things change. Sometimes quickly.

    It’s better to have information and not need it rather than scrambling at the last minute. The MBR Land Reality Check gives you a clear-headed look at what’s happening around your property and what it might sell for today.

    No pressure to list, no obligation, and it’s free.

    Is it a bad idea to know where you stand?

    Check it out here.

    Register to Receive Posts Via Email!

    By submitting, I understand I will receive marketing emails and blog posts from Mike Browning Realty and/or associated companies. Unsubscribe at any time.

  • Say It Before They Do

    Say It Before They Do

    Turns out the fastest way to defuse an accusation is to make it yourself.

    One of my repeat clients told me something I really appreciated not long ago. They are capable of performing on large transactions both as a buyer and seller, so naturally they have lots of brokers showing them anything and everything.

    Some of it makes sense and a lot of it doesn’t. But as you can expect, most of it gets presented to them with all the good parts highlighted and the not-so-good downplayed. If mentioned at all.

    So what did he say? Basically that he knows I want to sell deals, that’s how I make money after all. But he really likes that I get to the so-called “hair” on a deal pretty quick, if not right from the jump.

    To me, it’s the only sensible way to operate. But if you’ve dealt with real estate folks very long, you know it doesn’t always work that way.

    For my part, it’s just smart business. If you intend to be around a long time, you need people to trust what you tell them. And the best way to keep a client wanting to buy land deals is to make sure they do well on the ones they’re buying today.

    Besides, these are sophisticated guys. If I know about something affecting a deal, they’re going to find it sooner or later anyway.

    Chris Voss has a name for this in Never Split The Difference. He calls it an accusation audit. The best way to deal with baggage where your counterpart might have an issue with what you’ve said or done is to be the one who brings it up first. Usually right at the start.

    It sounds like handing the other person ammunition. It’s usually the opposite. Once you’ve said the uncomfortable thing yourself, they don’t have to wonder whether you see it too. You’ve put it on the table where both of you can deal with it. And often, hearing their own worst thought said back to them plainly takes some of the force out of it.

    Or maybe you are right, and they are carrying a grudge and they aren’t going to do business with you no matter what. At least you found it out up front, and saved time and effort for both of you.

    There’s a difference between defending yourself against an accusation and never letting it land in the first place.

    It only works if you’re honest about what the accusations actually are. Sugarcoating them defeats the whole point, and people can tell when you’re doing it. You have to say the version that actually stings a little.

    I’ve been flogging this book for about a month now, so I’ll give it a rest after today. But given that negotiation touches just about every part of your life, can it be a bad idea to get better at it?

    Buy Never Split The Difference Here

    PS- That link goes through Amazon, and I’m an affiliate. Doesn’t cost you a dime more, but if you click through and buy the book, or anything else while you’re there, I get a small commission.

    Register to Receive Posts Via Email!

    By submitting, I understand I will receive marketing emails and blog posts from Mike Browning Realty and/or associated companies. Unsubscribe at any time.

  • Things Are Headed South

    Things Are Headed South

    And we plan to get there first.

    Yesterday I talked about how things seem to be getting worse and worse in the world, and how people tend to want to put things off until the situation looks a little more stable.

    It’s not just having kids, it goes into things like changing jobs, starting or expanding a business, or doing anything that involves risk (that is, anything at all). But if you wait for perfect conditions to arrive to do something, you’ll likely never do anything at all.

    Most of the time, the “right time” is now.

    If you time it perfectly, great. Most of the time you won’t. But if you learn to succeed when circumstances aren’t ideal, you’ll be that much better positioned when they improve.

    So in the interest of taking our own advice, while everyone is saying things are headed south figuratively, we are heading south literally.

    To Hillsboro.

    Introducing MBR Land Group, our Hill County-based land brokerage operation serving Hill County and the surrounding area.

    My brother Matt lives in Hillsboro and is the guy to talk to if you’re looking to buy or sell lots or land down that way. Or pretty much anything but residential.

    Matt can be reached at matt@browningre.com or by phone at 254.324.6969

    If you own land in the area, you’re probably not looking to sell today. Or maybe ever. But between data centers, wind farms and future growth, things may be starting to look a little different than you expected.

    Things change, often quickly. It’s better to have information and know how things stand before you need it instead of scrambling after the fact.

    The MBR Land Reality Check gives you a clear eyed view of what’s going on in the area around your property and helps you know what it might be worth today. You get real comps, real analysis and insight from people who handle land for a living.

    Not house sellers moonlighting as land agents.

    It’s free. Better yet, there’s no obligation or pressure to list, and you won’t end up in a buzzword filled presentation just because you wanted some basic information.

    Is it a bad idea to know where things stand?

    Give yourself permission to look!

    Check it out here.

    Register to Receive Posts Via Email!

    By submitting, I understand I will receive marketing emails and blog posts from Mike Browning Realty and/or associated companies. Unsubscribe at any time.

  • Just Smart Enough To Get You In Trouble

    Just Smart Enough To Get You In Trouble

    What sounds reasonable in conversation can get you in trouble in the real world.

    I just renewed my real estate license.

    I wasn’t looking forward to the mandatory continuing education classes. Thankfully it turned out I wasn’t due to take any this time.

    But it did get me thinking about all the classes I’ve taken in the past.

    I’m old enough that when I started in this business, the internet technically existed but wasn’t really part of everyday life yet. So the classes were in person.

    A memory from one of them came back to me after writing last week about staying in your lane.

    The thing about real estate licensing classes is they are designed for the average agent. And since most agents end up working in residential, that’s what almost everything revolves around.

    Most of the coursework is designed to teach you what not to say so you don’t get sued later.

    Which is useful as far as it goes.

    As for learning how to become a successful broker, I’d say the value is more questionable. You’d probably learn at least as much reading this blog for a few months.

    Especially if you understand the importance of reading between the lines.

    But anyway.

    Almost the entire course was geared toward houses.

    Contracts, disclosures, house valuations, common residential problems. Pretty boring if you already know that’s not the business you’re going to be in.

    Out of about thirty hours they spent maybe fifteen minutes one day touching on land and commercial property.

    Which was entertaining, although probably not for the reason they intended. Pretty much everything they said was backwards.

    Maybe not backwards in a technical sense. More like simplified to the point that it stopped being true in the real world.

    To a normal person, it would sound smart enough in conversation.

    But if you actually applied it the way they described, you could get yourself or your client in trouble pretty quickly.

    Luckily almost nobody else in that room was ever going to deal with serious land or commercial transactions anyway.

    So no real harm done.

    Did I say anything?

    No.

    It wasn’t worth turning a continuing education class into a debate. And I didn’t particularly feel like helping introduce the word “mansplaining” into the culture twenty years early.

    But I remember thinking even then that it was another example of why specialization matters.

    People assume broad familiarity is the same thing as expertise.

    Usually it isn’t.

    Especially in businesses where nuance is what keeps small mistakes from becoming expensive ones.

    PS- Most landowners are not planning to sell today.

    But things change. Markets change. Development pressure changes too.

    That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for.

    It looks at nearby sales, current competition, market direction, and the details affecting value that are easy to miss if you don’t spend time in the land business every day.

    Is it a bad idea to know where things stand?

    Check It Out Here.

    PPS- If you’re not ready for a Land Reality Check but enjoy reading about land, negotiation, markets, and how business actually works in the real world, you can sign up below and get future posts in your inbox.

    Register to Receive Posts Via Email!

    By submitting, I understand I will receive marketing emails and blog posts from Mike Browning Realty and/or associated companies. Unsubscribe at any time.

  • Brokerage Isn’t About Brokerage

    Brokerage Isn’t About Brokerage

    The craft has to be good enough. After that, something else decides who wins.

    Dan Kennedy makes a point that most people in business miss.

    Success in a given business usually has less to do with the core craft than people think.

    Restaurants don’t fail because the food isn’t Michelin-star quality.

    They fail because the numbers don’t work.

    The food has to be good enough. After that, location, systems, consistency, pricing, and marketing determine who survives.

    You can see the same thing in music.

    The most technically gifted musicians rarely sell the most records. Read the comment section under any article about KISS or Mötley Crüe. Plenty of people will explain why they weren’t the “best” players.

    Doesn’t matter.

    They built machines around the music. Branding. Touring. Merchandising. Positioning. Distribution. They understood the business side.

    The craft mattered.

    It just wasn’t the deciding factor.

    Brokerage is the same way.

    There are plenty of agents who can fill in a contract correctly. Plenty who understand the forms. Plenty who can unlock a door and stick a sign in the yard.

    That’s table stakes.

    The difference shows up elsewhere.

    Positioning.
    Timing.
    Leverage.
    Awareness.
    Calm under pressure.
    Pattern recognition.
    And most importantly, trust that the client actually feels — not trust that gets talked about.

    Land especially does not move like houses do.

    It requires vision.
    Patience.
    The ability to recognize unusual activity.
    The discipline not to panic when something doesn’t sell immediately.

    The agent who understands how assemblages work, who watches adjacent sales daily, who knows when silence is leverage and when to press — that agent produces different outcomes.

    From the outside, brokerage can look simple.

    A sign.
    A listing.
    A closing.
    A check.

    From the inside, the real work is less visible.

    It’s in the judgment.
    The restraint.
    The positioning.
    The pattern recognition.

    The contract is the easy part.

    The hard part is knowing what to do before the contract ever gets written.

    P.S. You may not be ready to sell today, but does it hurt to know where you stand?

    Request the MBR Land Reality Check here.

    No cost. No obligation. Just clarity before decisions.

    P.P.S. Not ready for a valuation yet?

    That’s fine.

    If you want to see how I think about land and positioning before ever making a move, you can enter the inner circle here:

    sign up here

    No noise. Just straight analysis and the occasional opportunity.

  • Starting Where Others Stop

    Starting Where Others Stop

    It’s already working. I’m improving it daily.

    I’ve been working on some new marketing strategies.

    They’re not gimmicks. They’re not magic. And they don’t replace the basics. Pricing still matters. Exposure still matters. Negotiation still matters. None of that changes.

    This is everything on top of that.

    Most agents use the same tools. The ones bundled with their memberships and licenses. There’s nothing wrong with those. I use them too. Everyone does.

    Sometimes that’s enough. Especially with houses, since that’s what those tools are geared for.

    The problem is that most people stop there and then act like they’re different.

    They’re not.

    The reason you don’t see many agents doing anything beyond that is simple. It costs money. And most agents hate spending money on marketing, especially when the market slows down. Ironically, that’s when lazy marketing shows up the fastest.

    “List and hope” works pretty good when the market’s hot. But when it’s slower, that often turns into “list and wait.”

    And wait.

    This didn’t come from a seminar or a guru system. It came from testing. Applying ideas. Watching how people respond. Keeping what is working and discarding what doesn’t.

    In some cases, the result is better quality leads.

    In others, it’s clarity that the market isn’t there at the price, which may not be what you want to hear. But it’s something you need to know.

    One important point. I pay for this. Sellers don’t. This is additive marketing. If it helps, great. If it doesn’t, it costs you nothing.

    That’s intentional.

    Most people like the saying “measure twice, cut once.” That works when someone else already figured it out for you. Most land deals don’t come with a blueprint. They require judgment, testing, and adjustment based on reality.

    If you’re a landowner, you have a choice. You can hire someone who promises certainty while doing the same thing as everyone else. Or you can work with someone who executes the basics correctly and is willing to invest their own money to reduce guesswork.

    This isn’t for people who want reassurance. It’s for people who want information early enough to matter.

    If this sounds like you, can it hurt anything to learn more about it?

    Start here.

    PS – If you know someone who may be considering a land sale, feel free to pass this along.