The Right Eyes Aren’t.
If you ever talk to a real estate agent about listing a property, one word you’re guaranteed to hear is exposure. You’ll hear it over and over. Exposure, exposure, exposure. It doesn’t matter if it’s a house, a lot, or a piece of land. That’s the pitch.
They’ll tell you it’s going in the MLS and pushed out to all the portal sites—Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com. Maybe a couple of paid platforms. Maybe some email blasts. None of that is wrong. It should be done. Everybody does it. It’s the baseline.
Where it starts to fall apart is when that’s the whole plan.
A lot of agents take those listings and blast them out through the same systems. Big email lists, dozens of properties at a time. It looks like a lot of activity, but it’s mostly noise. I get those emails too. You can recognize them before you even open them, and 99% of the time it’s not something you’re looking for. Not a deal. Not relevant. So you skip it. I do the same thing.
That’s the part nobody really wants to say out loud. Most of that “exposure” doesn’t actually get read. Not because it’s bad, just because it’s generic.
You do need exposure, but more exposure isn’t always better. Better exposure is better.
When I’ve got a lot or a tract to move, I’m not just thinking about where it gets posted. I’m thinking about who would actually care. Builders for finished lots. Developers for raw land. Groups that are already active in that specific area. The question is simple: who does this actually fit?
Then I go straight to those people. Sometimes that’s an email. Sometimes it’s a call or a text. Sometimes it’s something in the mail. The method changes, but the goal doesn’t. Get it in front of someone who can actually do something with it.
Over time, that turns into something most people don’t have. Not a generic “buyer list,” but a real group of people you can reach when it matters. People I’ve worked with, people I’ve talked to, or at least people I’ve made sure I can get in front of. Even the ones I haven’t done deals with yet usually know who I am, and that matters.
That’s access.
I’m not guessing who might be interested. I’m putting it in front of people who are already in the market, and just as important, they’ll actually open it. Not because it’s fancy, usually because it’s not. It doesn’t look automated and it doesn’t look like it went to 500 people. It looks like something I sent to them, because it is.
If your message looks like everyone else’s, it gets treated like everyone else’s. Ignored.
I’m not trying to impress anyone with marketing. I’m trying to get a response. Yes or no. Both are useful.
Over time, familiarity builds. The people who matter recognize your name, so when something comes across from you, it doesn’t feel random. It feels relevant. That’s hard to fake, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Portals still have their place. I use them too. But if that’s all you’re relying on, you’re basically hoping someone stumbles across your property. I’d rather make sure the right people see it.
If you’ve got a lot or a tract and want to know how it would actually be positioned, I’m happy to take a look. No pressure to list, just information.
PS: If you’re a landowner, you might not even be thinking about selling currently.
You may have it in your mind that you’ll never sell.
All of that is great, but things change. And the best time to be gathering information is before you needed it by yesterday.
Is it a bad idea to know what your property might realistically sell for today?
That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for. It’s a straightforward look at potential value based on actual sales and other (often overlooked) factors that drive value.
You don’t have to decide to sell. You should decide to know what you can.
PPS: If you’re not ready for a reality check but like reading stuff like this, sign up below to get them in your inbox.
