Podcast Transcription: Land Brokerage in the Commonwealth
Speakers:
Billy McOwen
Danny Graham
Billy McOwen
Hey everybody. Welcome. This is episode number four of "find your favorite place." My name is Billy McOwen, and I'm your host. I'm joined today by Mr. Danny Graham. Danny is one of our founding partners in our Virginia operations. Danny, how you doing today?
Danny Graham
I'm great, Billy, thanks for having me.
Billy McOwen
All right, man, you bet. Good to have you here. So, Danny is one of our well, he is the top performer that we have in Virginia, and we're going to talk a little bit today about the Virginia market. The last couple of podcasts we've been doing, we've focused a little bit too much really on on what we're doing here in North Carolina; Virginia is a huge part of our business, and Danny is a huge part of that. So we're gonna get some insight right from the top guy in Virginia, and find out kind of what's going on up in there. So Danny, tell me a little bit about what's going on up in the Virginia market this year?
Well, it's going pretty strong. Mossy Oak properties, we have a lot of listings, we have a lot of great properties, and in Virginia, it's just a beautiful state. And we have a lot of diversity. And we have a lot of properties with diversity, in acreage, in in terrain, waterfront, not waterfront, great investment properties, great hunting properties, great recreational properties, properties that offer home sites, and plus all the above. So we're getting a lot of interest. We give our properties, a lot of exposure. So we get a lot of inquiries. And we do a great job of marketing to landowners to Billy, as you're well aware. So that that market is still there. It's still going right along.
We've experienced some some really strong growth in Virginia over the last five years, as you well know. Are you still seeing that steady growth that we've been experiencing over the last five years?
Danny Graham
Well, I think, you know, we had a great surge when we first showed up because we hit the Virginia market, like it hadn't been hit before, and the exposure that we gave ourselves, and then the exposure we gave to property owners who listed with us was tremendous. We were very successful, and I think that has just passed on year after year. Our marketing has improved with the times. And I think it's I think we're still building I think we're still growing, we have a lot of the trust that we always wanted to get from the from the public out there. And we've done a lot of things from a marketing standpoint at with your leadership that has has changed with the needs and the times and given us the great exposure that we need. So we're getting a lot of a lot of interest from buyers and sellers.
Billy McOwen
Well, that's good, and Danny, thank you for the kind compliment but as you know, we've got a really, really good team here. Good marketing team, good administrative staff that helps out a lot with all of that.
Danny Graham
I would agree with that.
Billy McOwen
So what what, if anything is different? I mean, obviously you and me were talking a little while ago about what's been going on with this whole COVID-19 mess. How how has that affected your sales process, if at all?
Danny Graham
Well, I think we approach every aspect of dealing with the the public buyers and sellers, certainly in person with a little more caution and we travel a lot to do what we do. So we go to different areas that have different degrees of concern. So we're taking the same precautions day to day that we always do as we interact with buyers and sellers. But I would say from an interest from buyers, we're still getting the amount of inquiries maybe picked up a little bit, there's a little uptick, perhaps the great thing about people who are interested in land, is they're interested in land all the time. Even after they buy land. Yeah. The next very next thing they do is look in an adjoining parcel owner. Yeah, and wonder when he's going to sell that 12 acres. First thing we do is expand Of course, So and so even during this dilemma that we're facing here, nationally, people are still on the internet two or three times a week after supper, sit down on the couch with their family. I mean, they're looking at what's available and what's for sale. So we're getting a lot of still getting a lot of interest. And a lot of people still have the means to come up with the downpayment and do some financing. Some people are even, it's kind of interesting, and this is an example of the broad view of everything that's going on this year I've had landowners who wanted to sell because they wanted to get into the stock market. The Oh Warren Buffett thing, buy low sell high. Right, and at the same time, I have had people who sold stocks so that they could Balint. Yeah, so you still have a big mix out there, there's a lot of different viewpoints that we still have, we have a market for buyers, and we should, we should do what we could to can to put sellers at ease and give them a comfort level that there's still a market out there if they choose to sell or desire to sell.
Billy McOwen
I have, and I'm sure you do as well. I have phone conversations every week with people. I had this guy call me the other day and he says, Billy, we're thinking about moving. We were going to retire down south in a couple of years but we're going to ramp that up. And I was like you tell me about that. Tell me about your decision making process. He said well I work for a big company and my boss is telling me that we may not go back to work in the building this year and it may be next spring before they make a final determination about that workforce, what percentage of that workforce is going to continue to work remotely and what percentage of the workforce is going to be in the office and how that scaling of that office space and everything is going to change. And so well, that's very interesting, so you're thinking about retiring and I mean, obviously, if you're going to telecommute into work, you're looking for a place that you can have high speed internet and things like that. So you know what's going on with the kids in school and everything, you know, you're gonna homeschool? He said, No, actually, the kids are going to continue to go to the same high school and they're developing an online curriculum. And I said, Okay, well what about sports and stuff like that? I said, Well some of the schools are doing sports, some of them are choosing not to look, as long as we've got room outside for the kids to go play, and, and enjoy the outdoors we're ready to make a move, we were going to make a move to the country in another 10 years. But you know, what, we're just making the decision that we're going to do it now. How much of that are you seeing as a result of this COVID?
Well, I think a lot of people are rethinking what they're doing and, in fact, I think as we move forward, we'll, it'll be interesting to see how many industries rethink what they're doing. But a lot of people want a place to go get some fresh air, it's hadn't been important to them. The importance of it hasn't been pointed out to this degree until this year. And so I think there's a piece of that. But as I mentioned earlier, a lot of companies I think, are going to rethink the day to day of their business, and in this past year, all of us individually, and collectively, and corporately, are going to rethink how we do everything day to day. So I think a lot of people are gonna test included, you know, Oh, yeah. And buyers and sellers, you and me. That's right. That's, we're going to rethink how we do things and where we do it. And what, what our future is going to look like it may not be structured the same, it might be completely different. So I think there'll be a lot of those people who are going to start testing the waters.
Yeah, I think you're right. Danny you were agent of the year for the entire company in 2019. What would you say that is your secret sauce that consistently keeps you in the upper echelon of the company performance?
Well, part of it is I have an energy for what I do, I love what I do. I feel very blessed to be to be a land specialist at Mossy Oak properties. I've been an avid outdoorsman, my entire life, I love to hunt and go out in be outdoors and I get to do this for a living sometimes it's almost a secret I don't want to tell anybody. But but I do love it. I have an enthusiasm for it. And I'm a very customer service oriented person and when when people call us and contact us and say I have a piece of land. And as you know, we deal with a lot of absentee landowners, people 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 states away also, and there may be numerous family members, heir property or property they've owned, haven't seen it in 20 years. They really need some assistance. They need some professional assistance they need somebody who knows the area knows land, knows pricing, knows timber, knows crops, knows soils, who knows all of these things. And that's why they give us a call and I get very excited when I get on the telephone with these people for the first time or I write them an email and we start communicating and I'm able to help them and so that's that's one of the reasons I think is customer service and an enthusiasm for what I do for a living. I really enjoy it. I love to see a new piece of land, and I'll walk a walk every piece, five acres to 100 acres thoroughly to examine it, because how can we get excited writing a narrative or taking pictures or selling a piece of property if we haven't experienced it. I love that part of it.
Yeah, that's great. There was an interesting statistic that you shared with me the other day that I thought was fascinating that I think people would like to hear about, since 2015, when you started you've sold 4500 acres.
It's actually 68. I redid it. I went back and reviewed. I did it really quick. I got excited. One morning, I said, this is pretty cool. So we're visiting with my daughter this weekend, and we sat down, and we're doing it yesterday messing around and it's 6800 acres and just about $20 million dollars. How about that? And you've done that in five and a half years with Mossy Oak.
How about that, thats spectacular!
Well, it like I said, I mean, I love what I do, and like as you do? Yes, same thing.
Yeah, same thing. So you know, also, you know, just to kind of heap on here a little bit in in 2019, you were also given a very prestigious award from the Hampton Roads Association of realtors, once you tell us about that, and what you had to do to qualify for that award?
Well, that was the platinum sales award and I shared that probably with another 20 or 30 agents I believe, in that.
Those were residential agents.
Danny Graham
Well, for the most part, I believe so yes. And of course, that's an organization that has 8000 agents. So that's, that's pushing the the top percentile of the group, and so I was very pleased and I don't remember the exact criteria I did when I was doing the paperwork. But it came in a little over $5 million worth of land sales, and I think it was about 20 different closings I had, so it's a little more than closing and a half a month. Something like that. And, and pretty steady for land sales, I must tell you.
Billy McOwen
Well to be a Platinum Award winner, and a land broker in a predominantly residential market, I think is pretty special and certainly, we were very proud of you to see you win that award and that along with the agent of the year in 2019, I mean, certainly you're at the top ranks of certainly within our organization and we're the third largest franchise holder in the Mossy Oak properties network. So if you're the top guy in our group, you're also in the top of the whole Mossy Oak properties network and that's good. We've talked a little bit about the fact that you're obviously an avid outdoorsman and that the passion for your outdoors helps you when dealing with buyers and sellers. We talked a little bit about how you like that when you go out and you walk land and you're you familiarize yourself when you're working with sellers properties, but how does that translate when you're working with buyers?
Well, I think a lot of buyers, potential buyers looking for land, they're looking for the same kind of thing that you and I would look for if we went out there and I would say most of the land specialist if not all of them at Mossy Oak, we're all outdoorsman and outdoors people because we have we have men and women working for Mossy Oak Properties, and I think they share are looking for the same things that we're looking for, we will go out to a piece of property, the same things that gets me excited when I go to a property for the first time, whether it be rolling terrain, flowing creeks, 6070 year old, mixed timber that you can just see clearly through and rolling crop lands, an old barn that needs some help. They're looking for those things, too. And they see it when they get they get enthusiastic when they see it also. So
Sometimes I've run across a buyer that when I roll up on a piece of property, they're struggling with a vision for what could really happen there. Let's just say that we could use some improvements with some roads and some paths and maybe there's a little area that could be a food plot, how much of your knowledge and wisdom as an avid outdoorsman, can you use to help a buyer get a little bit of vision about what a particular piece of property could turn into?
Well, you just touched on some very important marketing strategies for a seller. In order to really sell a piece of property and show it you need to be able to access it. So interior roads and trails and paths are very important. You can't just show a wall to trees from the road and because it's difficult. So I think that's important to be able to access the property and show them certain terrains. That's why we need to get on the property when we're pricing it and talking to the seller to tell them where,
Where they can make some improvements, things like that. I mean, we were talking about it on another podcast. Bryan DeHart he says, I'm never afraid to go to a seller to say, hey, if you spend $1,000 on improving the road system and everything in here, I can get you 4 to $5,000 more in a price, but my question is this, how does your vision have a piece of property, when you're there, as an avid outdoorsman, that you are, and knowing when you walk onto a piece of property, you're probably like me, you're thinking, wow, if I did this, or if I did that, this would really be an awesome place. Because I just don't see it. Not every buyer I work with, has that ability to be able to see, for instance they don't see the forest for the trees. How does your experience and that helped them when you're working with a buyer in the field?
Well, that's probably one of the things that make us successful if that we do have a vision that we can see what's not there, or what could be and very often, your that's an opportunity for these buyers to get some sweat equity immediately, they can get it this price but look what you can do in a matter of three or four years by cutting some trails, or if you could show them, you know, you can tell right here about four or five years ago, this was a little path, it wouldn't take much of anything to clear that and you can get back to that creek back there. And, and you can put a little food plot over there because that was a farm field or this was the old home site years ago and it's just grown up in brush. But you can, you know, those areas also are great for brooding. They're great for, for wildlife to move through. And you point those things out and a lot of times they're shaking their head and I think many times what we're doing is affirming what they're thinking anyway. Can they do this? Can they do? Can they put a food plot there? How old are these trees? What would it take to clear this spot over here? And, and we've already been thinking that.
Right. So and you help them you can you can say yeah, this is a good idea. This is everything. So that kind of takes some of the pressure away and gives them a higher confidence that not only are they going to be able to accomplish those goals, but then it's not going to be an overwhelming process for them.
Yeah. And also, you know, we have contacts, when it takes equipment to get some of these things done. We have contacts that we can put them in touch with and some of this equipment that might help them do these things is quite affordable and they can get things done cheaper than what they think they could.
They're thinking something cost $10,000 And it might just cost $1,000. Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you a little secret here. In your opinion, what are some of the best counties for deer hunting in Virginia? I love hunting up in Virginia. There are some big mamma jammies up there, there's a couple of counties here in North Carolina that are pretty good, but there are some there are some big deer up in Virginia. What areas or region of the state or the Commonwealth you know, might surprise our listeners as hunting hotspots.
Well, the Eastern Shore comes to mind. A lot of crops up there and a lot of lot of timber, and they're not overly populated. You take Southampton, Isle of Wight County, and certainly Southampton County.
What's the deal with Southampton? I mean, it's got this unbelievable mystique about it, and of course, look at that deer that John shot last year. That thing looked like it came like straight outta Canada, for God's sake. It was unbelievable. What is the story with that? Do you know the backstory about why Southampton County has such unbelievable genetics?
Danny Graham
A little bit. I think some of the wildlife biologists refer to the 58 corridor, which runs west right along parallel with about 10 miles above North Carolina line, also the route 460 which runs up to Richmond and Petersburg, they call that the peanut belt. It's just it's fantastic soils. It's great habitat, river bottoms that go on forever. Lots and lots and lots of corn and soybeans and peanuts that are grown around there. It's hunted heavily, but it also gives the opportunity. It's so vast, the counties are so big and rural, that there's a lot of blocks that don't get heavy hunting from year to year. And they just grow. They have everything that they need and they have good genetics too, which is not up to you and me as managers, the genetics just happen but there are a lot of other things that that the population is managed fairly well in places like that. But swamp bottoms hide a lot of large deer, and there's a lot of little pockets and honey holes all around that provide that also.
Billy McOwen
Well, I remember the first time when right when we were getting started, and we were looking at getting up onto the Eastern Shore, you remember, there was one of my clients as a as a surgeon at Virginia Beach, and he said, Billy, you guys have got to come up here. It's a bunch of incumbent guys that have been up here for generations and I can't even get him to return a phone call. So we drove up to the eastern shore, and we're riding around, and I'll never forget it. I mean, you're right. There are a lot of crops, a lot of vegetation, a lot of vegetable farmers up there, and we're driving around, and it's 1:30 In the afternoon, and I look out in this field, and there's this gigantic 170-180 class deer stand out in the middle of this field in the middle of broad daylight, and I thought, what in the world, so I get to talk to people. My client starts sending me pictures of these deer that he's killed on his farm up there. They're just absolute monsters! He said, Billy, there's just this weird subspecies up here. They're almost non nocturnal. They're just out in the middle of the day like normal animals are and I was amazed. Then you get to talk to people, and there's a few refuges up there that you can hunt and things like that but apparently, it's all that in a bag of chips, you would have never thought I mean, it's like, it's just this coastal area that, you know, down here where the coastal area, of course, deer look like dogs. I mean, they're itty bitty little things, but up there for like school buses. I mean, it was just unbelievable.
Danny Graham
I mean, I think what's what's also interesting about that, I don't know the field you saw, but I've seen it numerous times. These D are not standing in the middle of a two acre field. They're standing in the middle of a 40, or 50, or 60 acre field. Yes. In the middle of the day, in the middle of the day. Yeah. So I mean, just wide wide open, like, like, anytime, yeah, yeah.
Billy McOwen
I'm gonna change gears a little bit here, I kind of I kind of want to get back to working with clients for just a second, when we were talking about working with buyers and everything. I want to just kind of weed back into that for a second, when you're working with a new buyer, can you run through some of the questions you ask them to help you qualify them and have the best understanding of what they need? How best to help them achieve their goals? Are there specific questions that you're that you're trying to find the answers to, to steer them in the right direction? Or to make sure that that you're able to accomplish what their needs are?
Danny Graham
Yes, I, first of all, I listened to them. And if they've contacted us, then then they're they've already said, we're looking for some help. We'd like to buy some land up probably first two or three things is concentrate on on price. And if they are not sure how much money they want to spend, then I typically recommend that they get pre qualified from one of our land mortgage brokers, because a lot of times people don't realize typically with land, you have to have 20% down.
Billy McOwen
we're gonna get into that in a minute. But you're right. They don't understand what's what's involved with that. So that's one of the questions.
Danny Graham
That's one of the first things that we talked about is what is your price range? And how they answer that dictates which way we go at that point. But we talk about price range, and then you go to geography. Where do they want to be? Is it within a 50 mile radius of a certain work location? Is it a two or three county range? Depends what their situation is. Are they retiring like two people you mentioned earlier? Or is this a young couple who wants to just get out there and start a family? So schools play a part of that, too. So and then you get to acreage, what we'll do for them? Are they looking for just 10 acres? Would they really like to have like 40 or 50. So you have this conversation and as you whittle it down, you're starting to narrow down what their search is, but in the end, it always comes back to the first thing need to focus on the price. Buyers need to understand that if they've done their leg work initially, and they bring a contract to a seller that is a good strong contract and we have proof that they can pay, it strengthens their negotiation position as being rock solid buyers. Mr. Seller, you can take these buyers serious, they they've done their homework, they've done their legwork. So let's try to work something out fair to both parties. So that how you're going to pay the method of payment is a big thing every buyer needs to address.
Billy McOwen
That's gonna lead me to the to the next question that I got here. So we talked a little bit about working with lenders here in the Carolinas on a podcast before. Virginia is a little different. It's a title state. How often do you use a title company to close a deal versus an attorney, and when you're working with a lender,o you work more with community banks like like southern bank, or a small town bank or more with foreign credit lenders?
Danny Graham
Well, probably use attorneys offices more often, because I have a couple of attorneys offices that I've worked with many, many times but I've worked with a lot of title companies that are very good at what they do. What I've seen in the past is if you have an attorney's office, and you need legal advice, while you're in an attorney's office, most title companies have attorneys available, may not have an attorney on staff. But if everything goes smoothly, an attorney's office or a title company can do the job pretty well. What kind of customer service are you going to get from either one?
Billy McOwen
I like using attorneys, I've got a handful of them, you know, that I keep in my quiver that I know are good ones. I think eventually North Carolina will probably move to being a title state too. There are there are legal things that you need to talk about like access, easements and conservation easements and other things like that, that a title company is just not going to be not going to be versed in. So what about this thing with the lenders? Do you like community banks? Do you like farm credit agencies, which are the ones that you like to go to?
Danny Graham
Well, I love Farm Credit and I love local banks in rural areas, because they're not afraid of land. What a lot of folks don't know if their typical lenders don't have land programs.
Billy McOwen
Like a Wells Fargo or Bank of America. They don't got a land program.
Danny Graham
They are great. They have they have a place in the industry, and they serve a purpose very well. But when you start getting acreage, FHA and conventional and VA loans with with mortgage insurance, they don't cover land. Companies like Farm Credit do, in fact, they will even lend you money on a tractor, and the money it takes to build to a pole shed. So they understand rural property. I like those, and they do a very good job. The I think, just typical banks and lenders get a little nervous with land, and they don't have programs that that serve what we need very often. So I steer the lenders that way.
Billy McOwen
I'm gonna shift back to another question here, when you're working with a seller, you do a tremendous amount of research in preparing your broker price opinion. So talk to us about that process for you in Virginia, and why you think that that gives you a distinct advantage over a residential agent?
Danny Graham
When when I start looking at land, it's very important that you look at whether it's timbered land or cropland, does it have public road frontage? Is it an easement for egress? Does it ever recorded easement? Is it in a flood zone? Typically lands not used for anything yet, it's just land. So all of these things are new and have to be established as knowledge. Does it have wetlands on it? Is the timber marketable? What's the soil like in the crop fields? If it's a home site area, what's the water table? Have we got a PARCC test? All of these things. So before you even start looking at comps, I like to build it and established timber value, cropland value, cropland varies also. So do all the study on this. And then we get comps and we look at those. I use the assessment every now and then from the local municipality. But I print soil maps and look at all these things, and then you combine it, and you see what the highest and best use of it is. And I like to give a price range. The seller then talks to me about what I've told them, and in the end, we work for them, we represent them. If they want to move forward, that's that's what we do.
Billy McOwen
You are very successful in your sales this last year, but you achieved a really, really high percentage of the sale price to your listing price, which tells me that your broker price opinions were right on target. I mean, they were right spot on with what the market really does. I think that bring in that to a seller and realistic expectations about what what you can achieve. What do you do when a seller comes to you and says, "Oh, my gosh, you know, I think this is worth 18 million dollars", do work with them? How do you deal with that? I mean, we all run across it. How do you deal with that in the Commonwealth?
Danny Graham
Well, just politely have a conversation with them. Once again, I remind you, if they gave us a call, they're looking for real estate advice. They call it a real estate broker, and when they're talking to me, they're looking for some advice and some information, and I know very often they have an opinion of what they think it might be or what a relative has told them it might be and that kind of thing. But if you can come back to them and tell them what's going on in the market, you have comps, you have information on what the timber industry is doing now and what that is, if you can just talk to them about what you think you can get a lot of times they they they come around, and sometimes they don't. And I have to tell him, I just can't sell your property at that. Now if you want to try this a certain price range and get to the top of it, then let's give it a shot. And we'll talk in about 60 days and see what we got. But sometimes they're just just way out and I have to be honest, I can't sell it at that price. The thing that keeps us honest, Billy should keep us honest, as real estate brokers, is that if anybody gets a loan, which about 85 to 90% of people do, an appraiser is going to show up. He's going to keep us honest. So we can't just blow smoke to the sellers we have to get them where they need to be to start with.
Billy McOwen
Right. And I mean, that's one of the conversations I have with them is that this has to appraise. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. Prior to being with Mossy Oak Properties you worked for other real estate companies in Virginia. You were with a 25 year veteran when you came on board with us, how do you see the Mossy Oak Properties marketing model different, and how does it benefit you and your clients?
Danny Graham
Well, the amount of exposure that we give a property here at Mossy Oak properties, land and farms realty is unequaled. Typically, the way I say it is- no one will give you more exposure. And it's because we have such a marketing machine. That's another reason that I get to make the sales that I do is that we have such a high profile on every major land site in the country. Think of a newspaper, we're front page top of the fold on everything. No matter what county it is, it's because our office pays for that,and that exposure, it pays off. Then I also look at the way that we attract sellers, our marketing campaigns to do that. I've learned the value of marketing here and seen it work. So I even buy T shirts, I buy hats I buy coozies, I buy all kinds of things that has our logos on it and hand them out all the time.
Billy McOwen
So the marketing has benefited you, and you feel like the exposure benefits you and it really helps your sellers. It also puts your sellers properties in front of far more buyers and that's helped you a lot compared to what it was like before with other companies, was there any other marketing tools you used when you were with another company?
Danny Graham
It was a different time, also a little bit, the internet age has just opened up so many opportunities, and you exploit every one of them. You do a fantastic job. I think from a marketing standpoint, you're brilliant, you take us down this road that gives us all this exposure. But it was local newspaper in the MLS. That works to a certain extent, but you know very well that we sell to a lot of buyers two or three states away, we deal with sellers that two or three states away, right? So we need that marketing that just that that breaks the traditional boundaries and goes out.
Billy McOwen
Let's talk about that for a second. Where do you see most of your clients coming from? Does our marketing platform help you reach those buyers effectively?
Danny Graham
Yes, without a doubt. We get a lot of buyers from north of us. One of the things that they're trying to escape an oppressive real estate tax. They come down here and can't even believe it. We get to offer that to them.
Billy McOwen
You just prompted something for me to think about. I got a good friend of mine that owns some property in Maine. It's close to the water and it's a nice place, $29,000 a year in taxes he spends on this place. That's one of the first questions I hear is, "what are your annual taxes?" I had a guy call me about 66 acres of land in Currituck County yesterday and says "what are your annual taxes?" I said, $161. He said what? Living in the South is we have beautiful weather, we have beautiful people, we have terrific hunting. We 300 plus days of sunshine a year. I mean, what's not to love about coming down here I'm from Ohio, and not to downplay my Ohio buddies with Mossy Oak properties, but let me tell you what, I suffer from a seasonally affected disorder. So if I get too many days of gray skies, I'm a little depressed the sunshine and everything down here is really helpful. A little vitamin D does Billy some good. What are the size properties that you're seeing that these most of these buyers are wanting to come down and buy? Is it 10 to 20 acres, 50 acres, 100 acres?
Danny Graham
Well, I think it depends. A typical 10 or 20 acre parcel probably has the largest buyer pool, because it's affordable. I'd say probably 15 to 40 acres and anything 250 down, there's there's just a score buyers all the time that you're gonna encounter.
Billy McOwen
You know, we have we've recently merged all of our state operations; North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina under one roof, as Mossy Oak properties land and farms Realty Group. We used to operate as NC land and farms and Mossy Oak properties of Virginia. And to the to the buyer public and to the seller public, we look like two separate companies, when really we were the same company we just had to operate that way. It just made sense to bring everything together under one roof, under one brand. We cross stitch across the state line. I've got properties for sale that are 11 miles from you, but there are 170 miles from me. So of course, it makes sense. So bringing everything under the one roof, made a lot of sense. You've also noticed that we've merged our social media, we used to have a Mossy Oak properties of Virginia Facebook page, and we had a NC land and farms Facebook page, well, we've merged those two pages together. We have 21,000 people that are now following us on Facebook, which is a huge way for us to get information out. We've merged all of our email campaigns, and you probably noticed this, when we go out with our weekly property update, it's now branded for everything. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, everything is all inclusive in that, so it's it's a much, much broader reach. How do you see those changes? The merging of the Facebook pages, the merging of our email campaigns, the consolidation of our web traffic, and everything? How do you see that benefiting our agents, our company and our clients?
Well, I think with unity, you get strength. I think that covers that, collectively. I go back five and a half years ago, when the Virginia operation first opened, even though we knew all along, in North Carolina you guys had a pretty pretty hearty group already up and running. Had a very good, strong, diversed, experienced group of agents down here with a lot of really young go getters as well. We interacted with that group very much and the South Carolina group as well. As you know, professionally, we got together, fellowship and recreation time. I mean, we duck hunted together, we fished together, we've gone deer hunting together, we've cooked out on the deck together, we've traveled to Mississippi together, we've done all these things. We're a pretty tight group, but I don't know that the public knew that. What that gave us was, anytime we had to reach across state lines, which separated us by licensing and business type things from the States, we could still reach across the line and get some advice from our colleagues or still interacting. I could still come up with some trustworthy agents for somebody who had some business in North Carolina, and vice versa. Now I'm hoping and expecting that it's going to be more obvious to the the public that we are this large platform that covers these three states. We have this this large support network that's available to us should they need it, and we can make use of it. I think the social media just displays that as well.
One thing I think is really different is each office is independently owned and operated, so we get to do things the way that we want to do them. We don't have to go to a huge corporate body and say, "Hey, we're thinking about doing this marketing campaign", or "we're thinking about running this direct mail campaign", we can do it ourselves the way that we want to do it. I think gives us a huge advantage over some of our competition, like big companies that are based in the Midwest. I won't mention any names, but they can't just make a change, they've got to weigh in because it has this national impact. One of the things that we wanted to do here with this podcast is talk about what's going on here, regionally, what's going on in Virginia, what's going on North Carolina, South Carolina. All of these things we talk about can be part of a big national sort of view of land sales around the country. We want to do the things that are going to be beneficial here, in our region, in our states, in the areas that we work. And I think that we're doing that, and I'm really, really pleased. Danny, you know that we've always strived to create a team environment and have our administrative staff support our agents in every way. Do you think having a dedicated design person to help you create top line collateral materials, or having a transaction manager like we do to help you have closings, does it help the process go smoother? Or like us having an IT specialist in office to help you work through technical issues. Do all these things help you accomplish more of your goals? How do you see the support system that we've created benefiting you and help you to do better for your clients and make more money?
Danny Graham
All the tools, all the marketing that keeps growing, all the things that are available to us, all the strategies, all the different angles do help so we can take it just a little bit further. Every time you do that, there's got to be a little bit more support personnel. Theres got to be people that can be there to help you, and I've done right much of that this past week. It's interesting that you've that you brought that up. The people that have been assembled to support us are very customer service oriented. I like that because I mentioned earlier, I'm a customer service oriented guy too and anybody in any marketplace today should be able to recognize customer service when you see it, because we do recognize it when it's not there. So I think there's been a great team assembled. It makes us more efficient. It helps our marketing, and it helps us get to closings quicker. We have a system of checks and balances that helps and supports buyers and sellers so that we get it right. We don't have delays that cost time and costs money and delay closings. Once again, the unity there it gives us strength, it gives us purpose, gives us focus, gives us a direction. And we we can pick up the phone or write an email and get ahold of somebody in the office to help us (agents).
Billy McOwen
Yeah, I tell you what, I am so proud. I have a great team of women that work for us. They certainly make my job easier. I would not have the bandwidth to do what I need to do without them and just the way that they work together. Maybe it's the mom in them, they are all about supporting and helping all of the agents be successful. I genuinely think that they get a lot of joy and a lot of satisfaction out of seeing their work translate into successful transactions for the agents. It's really good.
Danny Graham
And they are good at what they do. They are definitely an integral part of escorting buyers and sellers to the closing table and that's what that's what we're here to do.
Billy McOwen
That's what we're here to do. Danny, we've known each other for a long time, and I've always known you to be a Christian man. How does your deeply rooted value system match up with our corporate culture?
Danny Graham
I mentioned the the founder of Mossy Oak, Hayes and his family are also deeply rooted in their faith and there's just something noble about the Mossy Oak Family, the Mossy Oak culture, it's something noble that each one of us need to leave the land better than we found it. Something about the game keepers, which is a subsidiary of Mossy Oak, just like Mossy Oak properties is to enhance land, take care of the land, improve the land, even if you're not a hunter, improve it for the critters, as he would say. And there's just something noble about the whole entire approach and I do admire people who own land and admire people who want to get in touch with the land and own a piece of dirt for themselves. There's just something about that is spiritual and the whole approach, that we are stewards of the land that we market and sell, and go out and and try to pass on to a new owner, a new steward. The whole thing just fits. It's God's creation, and we're out here, trying to make sure it's in good hands.
Billy McOwen
I think we are so blessed to be able to put our boots on stroll out into God's great creation every day, make a living at it. I was sitting in the turkey woods one time with a buddy of mine, and we were sitting right next to one another, we were calling and we were all camo up and everything. This little bird lands on this branch from us. He looks over at me and goes, isn't it amazing what God created in just six days. And I thought, you know, it is amazing, and we are able to get out there in it. And I do feel really blessed.
Danny Graham
There is something spiritual about waking up in the woods, watching the sun come up on early morning, waking up at four o'clock in the morning making the trek out there and everything's dark and then sunlight.
Billy McOwen
Then the sun comes up and the critters start moving. It is, it's magical, isn't it?
It is yeah.
We're a fortunate few. I got one last question for you, Danny. If you had one piece of advice that you wanted to impart to a new salesperson looking to get into land brokerage, what would it be?
Danny Graham
Customer service and relationships.
Billy McOwen
Ah, there it is. There's the R word.
Danny Graham
I don't know how you do it without creating relationships and and getting a support network because none of us know it all. None of us can do it all. I think we need to remember that the land business, theres so many moving pieces. I know people don't know that, but that's why they need a land special. I think customer service and relationships would be a great place to start from there a foundation and maybe a few more foundational blocks, that's a great place to start right there.
Billy McOwen
Great place to start. Well, you're certainly the king of customer service or relationships for us up in Virginia. Danny, we have covered a lot of great stuff today. I want to thank you so much for coming in. Mr. Danny Graham, the 2019 agent of the year in Virginia and the Platinum Award winner for the Hampton Roads Association of Realtors. If you have been looking for properties in Virginia, Danny Graham is your man. So I think that's going to wrap up episode four of "find your favorite place." My name is Billy McOwen. And I'm your host. I was joined today by Mr. Danny Graham. Alright everybody. Thanks so much for joining us peace out. We'll see you next week.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
