6 minute read
30 Years of Impact
PROFESSIONAL
30 Years of Impact
STORY BY LORIE A. WOODWARD
The Texas Alliance of Land Brokers (TALB), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was fledged from the Bird Wars.
“In the early 1990s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attempted to declare 34 counties as critical habitat for the black-capped vireo and golden-cheeked warbler, two endangered songbirds,” said Frank Childress, one of TALB’s co-founders, noting the designation would have severely limited how landowners could have managed their property. “Texas landowners and property rights advocates pushed back.”
Long-time ranch broker Marshall Kuykendall was one of the leaders of the resistance known as “Take Back Texas.” In the run-up to a massive protest organized by Take Back Texas which brought landowners from across the state to the capitol steps in Austin, a group of land brokers began meeting regularly.
Once the property rights threat was neutralized and the federal agency’s proposal withdrawn, the group of four or five, buoyed by the recent success in Austin, continued to meet at Twin Sisters Café. Their first standalone meeting was held in October 1994. Kuykendall became the organization’s first president. Judon Fambrough, formerly of the Texas Real Estate Research Center, was the first invited speaker.
“We called ourselves the Texas Land Brokers Club and initially thought we’d be concentrating on property rights issues,” Childress said. “Over time, we evolved and changed our name to the Texas Alliance of Land Brokers and shifted our focus.”
Over the past 30 years, TALB has become a place where friendly competitors can meet, exchange information, enjoy camaraderie, forge cooperation and obtain top-notch industry education from experts.
“Trust is KEY,” said TALB President Mike Bacon, broker/partner with Texas Ranch Brokers in Burnet. “On the professional side, TALB offers an environment where we get to know each other and a network where advice is just a phone call away.”
The advice and information includes everything from sales comps and tradesmen referrals to off-market properties in an area new to an agent/broker. In addition, referrals or colistings are a possibility.
“Many a deal has been made because of a TALB relationship,” Bacon said.
The group, which currently numbers 350 members including affiliates representing allied industries such as lending and title, still meets once a month to learn from a guest speaker. Now, though, there are regional meetings in Central Texas and North Texas with the possibility of adding other regions soon.
“Our guest speakers are experts in different aspects of the industry,” Childress said. “From the beginning, we wanted to provide an educational forum to help ensure that our members were up to date on all the issues in the industry, so they could provide the best representation for their clients.”
Of course, all the education in the world is for naught if brokers engage in questionable business practices, so all the members are held to the highest ethical standards. In fact, when brokers and agents join TALB they agree to “conduct themselves in a professional, courteous and ethical manner.”
The combination of ethical, professional and numerical clout gets well-deserved attention at the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC). This wasn’t always the case.
Childress recounted a tale of standing before the TREC’s Broker-Lawyer Committee to get the group to reinstate the ranch brokers’ commission statement in the standard contract used then. The committee, which like the TREC at the time was focused primarily on residential real estate, “laughed us out of the room.”
A few years later, as the TALB continued to grow, the organization determined it was time to raise the issue again. Leaders claimed a spot on the agenda and more than 30 members marched into the meeting room. The show of industry strength and a persuasive, eloquent presentation by long-time member and property rights advocate Dan Hatfield got the committee’s attention. The commission statement was inserted below the signature line on the contract, where it remains today.
As an industry force, TALB is recognized as one of the strongest voices for land and ranch real estate at TREC. The organization has been involved in many issues including drafting revisions to the 25-4 farm and ranch contract.
In addition, TALB and its members have been early adopters of game-changing tools. For instance, Childress remembered working with Tom Alexander, who is now publisher of Land magazines, when he launched Texas’ first color magazine dedicated to ranch real estate. Prior to that, brokers advertised properties in newspaper classified ads.
TALB also participated with Allen Shannon, who started Lands of America, one of the nation’s first online rural land listing websites. (It eventually was purchased by LoopNet and became part of the Land.com Network.)
Looking forward is a hallmark of TALB. As Bacon considered the organization’s future, he listed several key areas of focus including:
Adding value for members by continuing to offer TREC and the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board approved courses with a focus on farm and ranch real estate;
Continuing to expand into other regions of the state;
Keeping aware and involved with legislation regarding private property rights and industry related issues, again with an emphasis on farm and ranch real estate;
Working on developing relationships with TREC and the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board to have an even stronger voice for farm and ranch real estate industry;
Continuing to focus on networking, developing relationships;
Keeping our members up to date on industry related issues through monthly luncheon speakers;
Working on additional ways to help educate our members who are inexperienced Farm & Ranch agents, such as hosting informal Q&A sessions with long-time ranch brokers;
Hosting special events where members can get to know one another better in an informal setting. While the specifics may change over time, some things will remain the same.
“At TALB, we’ve always tried to be on the industry’s leading edge,” Childress said. “Who knows where the industry and the organization will go as the world continues to change, but I expect our group will always be a place where professionals can meet face-to-face for networking, camaraderie and education. Then and now, those things help our members serve their clients best.”
Find Out More About the Texas Alliance of Land Brokers here
