Mike Browning

Tag: Landowner Decisions

  • The Best Time to Look Is When You Don’t Have To

    The Best Time to Look Is When You Don’t Have To

    It’s easier to look at things clearly when there’s no pressure.

    You’ve probably heard it said that the best time to find a job is when you don’t need one.

    Most people agree with that when they hear it. It makes sense. You don’t wait until something goes wrong. You keep your eyes open, pay attention to what’s out there, and stay aware of opportunities.

    Not because you’re planning to leave tomorrow, but because things change. If you’re paying attention, more likely for the better.

    The same idea gets repeated in different ways. Your real job isn’t just what you get paid to do. It’s to keep an eye on what might be next.

    And most people don’t actually do it.

    Not because they disagree with it, but because it makes them uncomfortable. They don’t want to have conversations that might go somewhere. They don’t want to deal with interviews. They don’t want their current employer to find out. They don’t want something to start that they don’t feel in control of.

    So they leave it alone.

    Until one day something changes. The company gets sold, things slow down, priorities shift, or they’re just no longer needed.

    And now they’re starting from zero.

    The time they thought they had turns out to be gone.

    Real estate works the same way, especially with land.

    The day you might need or want to sell is probably somewhere out in the future, if it ever comes at all. So it’s easy to assume there’s no reason to think about it now.

    But things change.

    Markets move. Situations shift. Priorities evolve.

    And when that happens, it’s a lot easier to make a good decision if you already understand what you have and how it fits into the bigger picture.

    The problem is, most people don’t want to look.

    Not because they think it’s a bad idea, but because of what they expect will come with it.

    They’ve dealt with real estate people before. They assume that once they start the conversation, it turns into pressure. Like they should have sold yesterday. Like they’re getting pulled into something they didn’t intend to start.

    So they avoid it.

    That’s the part that doesn’t need to be true.

    You don’t have to sell. You don’t have to list. You don’t have to make a decision about anything.

    But you are allowed to take a look and understand what you have.

    And it’s a lot easier to do that when you don’t need the answer right away than when you needed it yesterday.

    PS – Most landowners aren’t planning to sell today.

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

    That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for. It gives you a clear picture of your property based on what’s actually happening in the market right now.

    No pressure, no obligation, just a clear look.

    Take a look.

    PPS – If you’d rather just follow along for now, you can sign up below and get these in your inbox.

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  • All They Did Was Ask

    All They Did Was Ask

    You check your stock portfolio all the time. Why not your land?

    Sometimes people assume there has to be a big reason to reach out.

    That you have to be ready to sell, or at least thinking about it in a serious way.

    Most of the time, that’s not really the case.

    I sent out a Land Reality Check recently to someone who owns property on Bois d’Arc Reservoir. There wasn’t any urgency, no timeline, and no stated plan to sell. As far as I can tell, it was just curiosity. I don’t even think it had been run by the other partners before requesting it.

    Just wanted to understand what to expect.

    After I sent it over, I got this response:

    “Oh wowww… thanks so much for sending your report. Your personal assistance and professional advice have certainly gone way above and beyond my expectations.”

    That’s great to hear, of course, but it’s not really the point.

    What matters is what happened before all that.

    Just raising a hand and asking the question. Not to sell, and not to list, just to take a look.

    People check what their stocks are worth all the time, probably more often than they need to. But with real estate, they tend to avoid looking at it, even though it’s often a much bigger piece of the picture.

    Part of that is because they assume that once they start looking into it, they’re starting a process. That it leads to conversations, meetings, and decisions they may not be ready to make.

    So they leave it alone.

    Not because doing nothing is clearly the best move, but because they don’t want to deal with what might come with it.

    That’s not how this works, at least not with me.

    You don’t have to make a decision. You don’t have to move forward with anything. And you don’t have to keep talking beyond whatever you’re comfortable with.

    But you can take a step back and understand what you have and how it might fit with the rest of what you’re doing.

    Sometimes, after looking at it, nothing really changes. That’s probably the case more often than not. But sometimes it does, and when it does, you’re making a decision on purpose instead of avoiding one.

    That’s the difference.

    All they did was ask.

    PS – Most landowners aren’t planning to sell today.

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

    That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for. It looks at nearby sales, market trends, development activity, and the types of buyers who might be interested in your property right now.

    No pressure, no obligation, just a clear look.

    Take a look.

    PPS – If you’re not ready for that but like this kind of thinking, you can sign up below and get these in your inbox.

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  • You’re Not Avoiding Selling

    You’re Not Avoiding Selling

    You’re avoiding the conversation that comes with it.

    Most people like the idea of a new car.

    They don’t like buying one.

    It usually means going somewhere, sitting down, and dealing with someone who says they’re there to help, and you know they’re trying to sell you something.

    That’s not a knock on them. The job is to sell. They also know that if you leave without buying, you’re probably not coming back.

    That changes the conversation.

    You start sorting through everything in real time. What’s real, what’s a line, what’s being left out. After a while, you’re just looking for a way to get up and leave.

    So you put it off.

    Not because you don’t want the car, but because you don’t want that process.

    If you own lots or land, it’s usually the same thing.

    You know at some point it might make sense to sell, or at least understand where things stand. But that usually means stepping into that same kind of conversation.

    Sitting down with someone who talks in generalities, leans on clichés, and keeps nudging things toward a deal. Whether it’s obvious or not, there’s a preferred outcome.

    So you leave it alone.

    Not because doing nothing is clearly right, but because it’s easier than dealing with that.

    I see it all the time. People wait until something forces the issue, and by then they’re reacting instead of deciding.

    What you actually want is pretty simple.

    You want someone who will tell you the truth, even if it doesn’t lead anywhere. Even if it doesn’t make anyone money right now.

    And you don’t want to block off half a day just to get there.

    That’s how I handle it.

    I do things in a way that doesn’t soak up your time or leave you feeling dragged along in the process.

    I’m here to advise, but you’re in control. I work for you, not the other way around.

    A lot of the properties I’ve sold, I didn’t meet the seller until closing. Some I never met at all. Not because I avoid it. I’ll meet whenever it makes sense.

    But it doesn’t have to start there.

    It can start with a conversation. Email is fine. That’s usually what I prefer anyway.

    Sometimes that turns into a sale. Sometimes later. Sometimes not at all.

    But at least you’re deciding based on what actually makes sense, not because you got pulled into something you didn’t really want to deal with in the first place.

    PS – Most people aren’t planning to sell today.

    But things change, timing, markets, personal situations.

    When that happens, the people who already understand where they stand tend to make better decisions.

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

    It looks at nearby sales, current listings, development pressure, and the details that affect value but don’t show up in a quick search.

    This is typically something I’d charge for, but I’m offering it at no cost for now.

    If you’ve ever wondered what your property actually looks like in today’s market, it’s a straightforward way to find out.

    Get the MBR Land Reality Check

    PPS – If you’re not ready for that but you like thinking through land, markets, and negotiation, you can sign up below and get these posts in your inbox.

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  • Who Do You Know That Owns Land?

    Who Do You Know That Owns Land?

    You probably know someone. You just don’t think about it.

    Most people don’t see themselves as someone who knows landowners. But if you stop and run through it for a minute, a few names usually come to mind.

    Someone who bought a lot years ago and never built. Someone who inherited property. A colleague who picked something up as an investment. A neighbor with acreage outside the city.

    It doesn’t come up often, so it’s easy to forget. But it’s more common than people think.

    And when it does come up, it usually sounds the same.

    They’ve had it for a while. They’re not sure what it’s worth today. And they don’t really know what they should do with it.

    That’s where most of my conversations start.

    Not with a big decision. Just a simple question.

    “Do you think it makes sense to sell this?”

    Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s no. A lot of the time it’s just a matter of laying out what the options actually are.

    Most people aren’t looking for a sales pitch. They’re trying to get their bearings.

    If you happen to know someone in that spot, don’t forget that you already know someone who can point them in the right direction without taking advantage of the situation.

    I’ll take a look at it and give them a straightforward opinion on what it’s worth and what their options look like. No pressure, no obligation, just a conversation.

    That’s how most of the people I end up working with find me anyway.

    PS- Most landowners aren’t planning to sell today.

    But when the question does come up, it helps to have someone they can talk to without feeling pushed into a decision.

    If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to send it to them.

    And if you want to get a sense of where things stand on your own property, you can do that here:

    Get the MBR Land Reality Check

    It’s free, and never any pressure to list.

    PPS- If you’re not ready for a Reality Check but like reading these, you can sign up here.

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  • Waiting Is Always Good. Until It Isn’t.

    Waiting Is Always Good. Until It Isn’t.

    Mistime things, and you could end up waiting a lot longer than you wanted.

    Most landowners don’t feel pain at the beginning of a market shift.

    They notice it much later — after time has already done the damage.

    After the savings and loan crisis, some properties traded for less than the commission paid on the prior sale. Not less than the original purchase price. Less than the fee someone paid to sell it before.

    That didn’t happen because the land suddenly became useless. It happened because demand vanished, capital froze, and landowners who waited ran out of options.

    After 2008, the same thing happened again, just more slowly. Values didn’t bounce back the next year. Or the year after that.

    In many areas it took years just to get back to even, assuming the owner could afford to wait that long.

    Land doesn’t move like houses.

    There is almost always some demand for houses. People get transferred. Families grow or shrink. Some buyers are doing well no matter what the economy is doing.

    Even in soft markets, houses still trade.

    A nice custom home on acreage is different. That buyer isn’t moving because they have to. They’re upgrading. They’re stretching. They’re making a lifestyle decision.

    When things get uncertain, that buyer can disappear almost overnight.

    Developers behave the same way, just at a larger scale. When markets are hot, lots get built quickly. Subdivisions move fast. Capital flows easily.

    When things slow down, that inventory doesn’t vanish. It sits. For a while, there’s simply too much of it.

    So developers change roles. Instead of paying retail on something they can develop immediately, they only buy if the price allows them to wait several years and still hit their return target. Or they step back entirely.

    When that happens, landowners are no longer negotiating with builders — they’re negotiating with patience.

    Investors are always around, but investors don’t buy on hope. They buy on margin. And when they’re the primary buyers left, pricing shifts. Whether landowners like it or not.

    None of this means history is definitely about to repeat itself. It means timing matters more than most landowners want to admit.

    The real risk isn’t the market collapsing tomorrow.

    It’s drifting into a thinner market without realizing the buyer mix has changed.

    When demand narrows, prices can change quickly. The problem is you often don’t know how much. Land is illiquid, and there just aren’t many comps. With houses, year-over-year data tells a story. With land, silence often tells it first.

    When prices fall, time takes over. And once time is in control, landowners don’t get to set the terms anymore.

    That’s usually when regret shows up — not because someone sold too soon, but because they waited too long to be honest about what they owned and who would actually buy it.

    More like this in your inbox here.

    PS- It’s easy to see that housing — and by extension land — has softened over the last couple of years. Interest rates matter. If they fall, houses become more affordable. If they rise further, things tighten.

    You may not be planning to sell today. You may be holding long term. But is it a bad idea to know where things stand right now?

    I offer a free, no-obligation analysis on non-residential property. Real comps. Utility and access info. Market trends. Nearby sales activity that actually matters.

    No pressure.
    No BS.
    Just integrity and diligence.

    Does it ever hurt to have current information?

    Click Below:

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