Mike Browning

Tag: Land Investing

  • Somebody Should Own This by Now.

    Somebody Should Own This by Now.

    Don’t be sorry you missed it.

    If you’re interested in Flower Mound or are an agent working with people looking there, you’ve probably seen this listing already.

    4.38 acres on Hawk Road, room for a horse inside the city. That combination doesn’t come up often out here.

    The price just dropped to $1,225,000, down from $1,245,000, and further down from where it opened back in January. Not a fire sale, just a seller adjusting to a market that hasn’t moved as fast as everyone assumed it would.

    The size is more unique than people give it credit for. Smaller tracts don’t qualify for a horse under Flower Mound’s rules. Bigger tracts jump into a different price bracket and a different kind of buyer. This one sits in the gap between those two, and there isn’t much else sitting there with it.

    There’s a 2005 mobile home on the property, valued at zero. Three bedroom, two bath, 1,512 square feet, sellers live there now. May work as a caretaker setup, or a place to live while a buyer plans something bigger. Flower Mound may have something to say about that (they do about most things), so check with them. There’s a chicken coop too. Not a selling point for everyone, but it tells you something about how the place has actually been lived on.

    It backs up to the future Eden Ranch subdivision without being part of it. No HOA. No committee approving your paint color. Denton ISD schools, Adkins, Harpool, Guyer.

    Seller to keep the minerals and they will need a short leaseback.

    In MLS as both land (#21161389) and residential (#21144467), pictures and aerial are below, also a flyer is linked below.

    Showings are by confirmed appointment only. The land can be shown most any time, but the sellers still live on the property so advance notice is required. The home won’t be shown initially since the value is primarily in the land, but it can be made available later if needed.

    Get the Flyer Here

    PS If you’d rather just keep an eye on what’s moving in this market before it shows up somewhere else, you can sign up below.

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  • The Gas Price People

    The Gas Price People

    It doesn’t pay to worry about the price of something you have to buy no matter what.

    Since I’m out looking at land all over DFW, I drive more miles than most people do in a month. And I don’t drive a Prius, I drive a pickup. Not one of the giant, jacked-up models, but I’m still not winning any awards for conservation.

    So if anyone should be paying attention to gas prices it should be me. But I don’t. But that doesn’t prevent others from telling me about the latest moves.

    You know the type. They watch the price board every time they pass a station. They’ll drive ten miles out of their way to save three cents a gallon. Burn more gas than the savings they get. They text their spouse: “Buc-ee’s in Melissa is at $3.09 right now.” The gas price conversation comes up at dinner like they’re tracking a stock.

    But think about it. Say prices jump twenty cents a gallon. My truck takes about 26 gallons. That’s five dollars more per fill up. Five bucks. The mental energy some people spend tracking that number, recalculating, stressing, and comparing costs more than five dollars. Probably a lot more.

    As a wise man once said: he who knows the price of everything knows the value of nothing.

    And that’s the real problem. When you’re focused on what something costs, you stop thinking about what it’s worth.

    Landowners do this too.

    Not with gas prices. With phone calls.

    They’ve been sitting on a piece of land, could be a hundred acres, could be forty, and every so often they wonder what it’s worth. What’s been selling nearby. Whether the market shifted. Whether now’s the time or not.

    But they don’t do anything about it.

    They’ve decided that the cost of checking is too high. Not in money. Something worse: the pressure. The pitch. The agent who’s going to spend forty-five minutes making it real estate conversation instead of land conversation, then follow up every two weeks until they finally block the number.

    So they wait. And while they’re waiting, they’re not getting the information they’d need to make a good decision when the time comes.

    That’s the real cost. And it’s not five dollars.

    Here’s what I’d ask you to think about.

    What if you knew ahead of time that the pressure thing wasn’t going to happen? If I promised you the conversation was just going to be information, that I wasn’t going to push, that you reach out and end up with a clearer picture and nothing more, would it still make sense to wait?

    Of course anyone can promise no pressure. But don’t take my word for it, hear it from people who actually got a Land Reality Check:

    “The information was helpful by providing market information. I did not and do not feel pressured to take any action. The information provided serves as a baseline for the market value of the property.”

    — Mary G., Frisco

    “How quickly I received a response that was so full of detailed information that I never would have known to even think about.”

    — Lisa H., McKinney

    “I was amazed at all the info I received. For free.”

    — Barbara K., Denison

    The value of knowing what your land is worth doesn’t go away because you’re not planning to sell today. If anything it goes up, because the people who make good decisions on land almost always understood the market before they needed to.

    The cost you’re worried about? It doesn’t exist here.

    PS- You’re probably not looking to sell today. And that’s great.

    But is it a bad idea to know where things stand?

    That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for. Sales data, competing listings, development pressure, the factors that affect value that you can’t see from the road.

    No pressure. No drama. Just valuable info to use when you’re ready. If ever.

    Get Yours Here

    PPS-Not ready for that yet? You can sign up below and just read. Land, markets, negotiation. No pitch.

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  • Sometimes Things Go Sideways On You

    Sometimes Things Go Sideways On You

    You can never say for sure which way it will go. Or how fast.

    When people ask me for valuation help, or are thinking about selling, one of the things they often want to know is how much the property is going to be worth in the future.

    My answer is always the same. I don’t know, and neither does anyone else.

    Now historically, land and lot values around here have generally gone up over time. As long as North Texas keeps growing, people keep moving here, and the economy stays relatively strong, there’s a decent chance that continues over the long run.

    But there’s no way to know how fast.

    Or whether it goes up at all over any particular stretch of time.

    Sometimes things go sideways on you.

    Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, land values ran up very quickly during the savings and loan era. A few years later, some of those same properties sold out of receivership for less than the commission paid on the earlier sale.

    A few years before that, acreage in southwest Sherman was trading around $20,000 to $25,000 per acre because people thought a GM plant was coming.

    The plant ended up going to Tennessee.

    I worked on a deal in that same area years later at exactly $6,500 per acre.

    Then there were the lot markets around 2006 to 2008.

    I saw subdivision custom home lots in Collin County selling for over $75,000 during that runup. A few years later after the financial crisis, some of those same lots were changing hands around $20,000.

    In 2020, many people thought the lot market was going to freeze up completely.

    Instead, it got hotter than anything I’ve personally ever seen. In some areas values doubled between roughly 2020 and 2023.

    Since then? Not so much.

    Here are the prices on a lot I have seen trade three separate times:

    October 2023 — $310,000
    May 2024 — $330,000
    May 2026 — $315,000

    Pretty flat.

    That doesn’t mean the market is collapsing. And it doesn’t mean land is bad.

    It just means markets move in cycles, and people have a tendency to mistake temporary conditions for permanent ones.

    So what’s the takeaway?

    A couple things.

    First, you’re usually better off making decisions based on what makes sense today rather than based on what you paid, what you hope happens, or what somebody confidently predicts the property will be worth years from now.

    Second, if somebody tells you with certainty what your property is going to be worth in the future, they’re probably giving you more certainty than the market actually allows.

    That’s not how this works.

    Even if you’re not planning to sell, there’s still value in understanding where things actually stand today.

    You don’t have to do anything with the information.

    But things change. Sometimes slowly, sometimes fast.

    And it’s usually better to already know what you’re dealing with instead of trying to figure it out under pressure later on.

    PS- Even if you’re not considering selling today, is it a bad idea to have a handle on what you’ve got?

    That’s where the MBR Land Reality Check comes in.

    It’s a free, no obligation look at what your property might sell for today, based on what buyers are actually doing today. Real comps with real prices.

    You don’t have to sell, but you should at least allow yourself to look.

    Take a look here.

    PPS- If you’re not ready for a Reality Check but would like to follow along, enter your info below to get these in your inbox.

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  • Most Landowners Aren’t Stuck. They’re Just Not Looking

    Most Landowners Aren’t Stuck. They’re Just Not Looking

    Some people feel stuck but aren’t really. Others just have their heads in the sand.

    Some landowners are genuinely stuck.

    Most aren’t. They just haven’t looked at things in a while.

    Sometimes that’s because they don’t want to see what’s there. Other times life just moves on.

    They bought it with some kind of plan. Build later. Hold it long term. Maybe sell when the area catches up. Then the property slides into the background.

    A few years go by. Then a few more.

    At some point it stops being something they’re actively managing and turns into something they just own.

    That’s where things start to drift.

    Because the land didn’t freeze in place when they stopped paying attention to it. Everything around it kept moving. Development shifts. Prices move. Buyer demand shows up in pockets, then disappears. Infrastructure gets extended in one direction and skipped in another.

    Sometimes the property quietly gets better.

    Sometimes it doesn’t.

    If you’re not paying attention, you don’t know which one you have.

    So people settle into a simple explanation. “I’m just holding it.”

    That sounds like a decision, but most of the time it isn’t. It’s just inactivity dressed up as a plan.

    Holding can be the right move. Selling can be the right move. Reworking it, splitting it, or just waiting for a different window can all make sense depending on what’s actually happening around the property.

    But all of those require the same first step. You have to look at it as it sits today, not how it looked when you bought it.

    That’s the part people skip.

    Not because they can’t do it. Because once they do, they might have to make a decision they’ve been putting off.

    PS- Most landowners are not planning to sell today.

    But things change. Sometimes faster than expected. When they do, the people who already understand what they own tend to make better decisions than the ones starting from scratch.

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

    It looks at nearby sales, current listings, development pressure, and the details that actually move value, not just what it looks like from the road.

    Is it a bad idea to know where things stand?

    Get Yours Here

    PPS- If you’re not ready for that but like reading about land, markets, and how these decisions actually play out, you can sign up below and get these posts in your inbox.

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  • Before You Assume a “Future Highway” Will Go Where You Think — Look At This

    Before You Assume a “Future Highway” Will Go Where You Think — Look At This

    For long-term land investors who want context, not certainty.

    If you’ve invested in land around future infrastructure long enough, you already know the problem.

    You’re shown a map.
    Someone draws a line.
    They talk as if it’s decided.

    What they rarely say out loud is that projected routes are discussion tools, not guarantees — and that until something is physically on the ground, everything can change.

    Timelines stretch.
    Alignments shift.
    And sometimes the route that “made the most sense” never happens at all.

    This is written for long-term land investors who understand that being early can be smart — but only if you’re honest about what’s known and what isn’t.

    If you’re the type who wants to know what’s actually been discussed, what today’s maps really show (and what they don’t), and how close “close to a route” truly is right now, this will make sense to you.

    This is not for quick flippers, certainty-seekers, or anyone looking for a story they can repeat as fact.
    And if you want someone to tell you a road is “definitely going right here,” stop reading now.

    What I’ve put together instead is a straightforward brochure that shows two discussed routes and how they relate to two available properties.

    One property appears very close to — and potentially on — one of the discussed alignments.

    The other sits just west, within the same general corridor.

    No claims about final placement.
    No promises on timing.
    Just a clear view of what’s been talked about, what’s been mapped, and where the uncertainty still is.

    And one more thing that matters if you’re a serious long-term buyer:

    People who request this brochure will also see other properties as they come available, evaluated with the same straight talk — no hype, no “can’t miss” language, and no listings that don’t belong in this kind of portfolio.

    If that doesn’t appeal to you, this probably isn’t a fit anyway.

    If you want to review the brochure and decide for yourself, go here and enter your information:

    Send Me The Info!

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    Look at it carefully.
    Draw your own conclusions.
    But don’t assume you know where a future highway will go until you’ve seen this.

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