#53 - Land Is More Than Dirt | Legacy, Water & Rural Texas | Jenna Searcey

What makes a piece of land truly valuable?

For Texas REALTOR® Jenna Searcey, the answer goes far beyond acres and price per acre.

Land represents family history, stewardship, opportunity, and a responsibility to leave something better for the next generation.

In this episode of The American Land Seller, Koby Rickertsen sits down with Jenna to discuss growing up in a family whose roots in Knox County, Texas date back to 1887, and how that history influences the way she serves landowners today.

Together they explore the emotional side of buying and selling land, why water remains one of the most valuable resources in rural Texas, and how local knowledge can make all the difference in a successful transaction.

They also discuss:

• Multi-generational land ownership

• Stewardship versus simple ownership

• Water, soil, and agricultural production

• Farm and ranch insurance, including pivot irrigation coverage

• Helping families navigate inherited land

• Why relationships still matter in rural real estate

• The value of the REALTORS® Land Institute and continuing education

• Advice for new land professionals

Whether you're a landowner, REALTOR®, farmer, rancher, investor, or simply someone who appreciates rural America, this conversation is a reminder that land isn't just an asset.

It's a legacy.

Connect with Jenna Searcey

940-203-3154

jenna@jennasearcey.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jennasearceycityrealestate

Brokerage:
Sunset Realty Team
City Real Estate
Munday, Texas

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Transcript

Welcome And Why Legacy Matters

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Today on the American Land Seller, what happens when your family's history on some land stretches back nearly 140 years? Today I'm joined by Texas realtor, landowner, and business owner, Jenna Searcy. Her family's roots in Knox County, Texas date back to 1887. And that history has shaped the way she approaches land, agriculture, and the people she serves. In this episode, we talk about what it means to be a steward of land that has been in a family for generations. We discuss why legacy matters, how rural communities are changing, and why buying or selling land is often about much more than a transaction. We also dive into the Texas land market, the unique challenges facing rural property owners, and why understanding insurance is just as important as understanding real estate. From protecting farm and ranch operations to the importance of water in West Texas, Jenna shares practical insights that every landowner should hear. Along the way, we discuss the value of the Realtors Land Institute, building relationships in the land, and why local knowledge continues to matter in an increasingly digital world. If you own land, work in agriculture, or simply appreciate the stories that make rural America special, I think you're gonna really enjoy this conversation.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Welcome to the American Land Seller Podcast, with your hosts, Kobe Rickardson and Brittany Murphy. Kobe is an accredited land consultant and the CEO managing broker of Ironhorse Land Company, a multi-state land brokerage specializing in farm, ranch, recreational, and development items across the hardware. Britney is the chief marketing officer of Ironhorse, bringing top-level marketing strategy, brand development, and creative execution built specifically for the land business. Each week, we bring you real-world insight and expert conversations on land sales, marketing, regulations, economics, and the trends shaping the land market across America.

SPEAKER_05 2:14

Okay,

RLI Training And Land Education

SPEAKER_05 2:15

Kobe and our special guest, let's get started.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Hey everybody, welcome back to the American Landseller Podcast. And uh, we are gonna go all the way to Monday, Texas for today's episode. Super excited to have Jenna Cersei from Sunset Realty Team City Real Estate Company in uh Monday, Texas. Jenna, how are you today? I just couldn't be better, Kobe. Thanks for asking. Man, it's so fun to have you on here. You know, um, I wanted to get kind of talk just a little bit. You and I actually have gotten to know each other through the Realtors Land Institute, which is a lot of my friends in the land world. Actually, I have met through the Realtors Land Institute. And this, I think you were telling me right before we came on, was your first ever National Land Conference that you went to um in March last year. What did you think of the National Land Conference?

SPEAKER_05 3:06

Hey, so I thought it was very valuable for for my education, for for selling land, for um talking with people about land, and also for networking. And what I really loved the most about this particular land conference was uh that we had like a town hall meeting for the data centers, and it made me feel educated because like a lot of other people that seems to be coming about on everybody's in the our peripherals, you know. I mean, it's they're they're not stopping. So it was good to learn some information about that.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Yeah, and I thought what was probably one of the most interesting things for me because I've been to several of them in the past, and this was by far the largest, and the venue I don't think was quite ready for as many people as we had, but everybody was smiling, laughing, having a good time. I really didn't see anybody having any sort of uncomfortability while we were there getting packed in. So I thought that was pretty cool. Now you went to also, okay, staying on RLI, you went to that boot camp that they have and took the three core classes for your ALC in Chicago, correct?

SPEAKER_05 4:07

I did, I did. So, of course, the education was great for that, but also like meeting people that now I have faces, familiar faces at the land conferences and on our RLI boards that we chat about land on, and it's just really helped. Um it helped give me confidence and it's a lot of knowledge, and the instructors were great, and I love the boot camp purpose. Like sitting down and learning this material helps me more than most anything does.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Yeah, and those are pretty cool. Like they they have gone away from what they what the real the other boot camp used to be. This is kind of like the mini form, but they used you used to be able to go once a year to get all of the required classes all in a row, like in a 10-day period.

SPEAKER_05 4:50

They talked about that. They talked about it being chaos.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

I in Oklahoma, the last one, I think, well, no, maybe, yeah, I think last one was in Oklahoma that they had the full-blown all of them. And I think I was like second or third from the end. So by the time I got there, it's like these people have known each other their whole lives, and I don't know any of them, you know. So it was kind of interesting as an instructor to walk into that. But we had a blast. I still have some people that I'm I got to know a little bit when I was there, and uh it was uh it's a unique experience. But I I always was jealous of those guys because you go to the land conference and there's those little classes, you know, the class of whatever, and they all know each other and are best friends. And so uh I I did mine like a one-off, so I went to a couple in person and a couple online and got hod hodgepodged my classes together and it's kind of during like COVID and stuff, so the finishing ups. It was interesting, but well,

Growing Up On Generational Land

SPEAKER_03 5:45

we are happy to talk to you today. Now, you have been in Knox County, your family, I guess, not you personally probably, but your family has been in Knox County, Texas since 1887. Wow, that's that's some roots. How do you how is the roots that you've got established with your family and everything um helped you with the the way that you look at land today?

SPEAKER_05 6:08

Well, you know, I mean, so we've just been stewards of the land since 1887. Whenever you have your own property and you're raising your families on there, it generally just uh it gives you those deep connections to the territory. Um I rode around with my granddad, he would check on farms and uh how the cotton was growing, and we'd talk about, you know, the old phrases from the farmer's almanac of, you know, the different colors of shades that the cotton blooms come in, and we'd listen to the the the wheat as the wind moved across it, makes a nice little sound. And then of course he had a a ranch, and so uh he would feed his deer and we'd have a long stretch that we looked at the deer, and it just really helped cement from such a young age how important land is to my family and also to our community and in broader terms, uh obviously as well.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Well, and with the age of the landowner that we have today, you know, like thinking, you know, having that connection of your family owning property since in the same space for that many years, I you have to have a little bit more of that feeling that those guys have as they're trying to maybe consider separating and selling off part of that legacy, you know. So I think that's gotta be like a benefit for you probably to to have that history when you're sitting down at a kitchen table with potential sellers, I would guess.

SPEAKER_05 7:31

Absolutely. I mean, it's it's not something that I'll learn later on in life, it's something that I I was born and and raised to to know and to love and and to learn about.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Yeah, I think I think that's what a lot of people like it's a transaction for a lot of a lot of folks. But the reality is is uh our jobs isn't isn't a whole lot different from the residential agents in the sense of, you know, like we we have to have those emotional conversations and you know, and uh and I think that having that history and and having the understanding of it has got to be a huge asset for you.

SPEAKER_05 8:01

Absolutely, because it is. It's land just isn't dirt, it's absolutely legacy and it's memories and it's family history and also financial security. It's yeah. It's it's just i I feel it in in in my soul that how how land really resonates with me. And also for my clients, of course, because I'm now working with people who might not have families to pass it on down to and where do we go from here? And it's such a joy to see land passed on to people uh who can now make their new memories with and their family history about. It's good watching the Passover Pass Hands and and Yeah. It it is. And watching these people who have cared for this land all of their life who are at the end uh who are at the end of theirs be able to have some financial security moving on to their last years in life.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

Well, and that's like we we had training today and we're going through like four parts to, you know, listings, and and we had training this morning on like s the kitchen table, you know, like um doing the pitch for why you should be the listing. And so, and I think that that's you know, like it's important to keep that in mind that a lot of our clients that we're dealing with, you know, they really are um they're gonna have a lot of money, you know. And so being that, you know, I coach my guys on, we're not salespeople, man. We're advisors, we're guides, we're marketing specialists, right? We're there's really no the land will sell itself if you position it right in the market and you and you make the right phone calls and things like that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

But um you don't have to try and, you know, sell somebody on a lot of what we're doing. It there's a natural buyer out there, but but I think it's important to keep that in mind that you know the these people have been on this land and their families have been on this land for a really long time and coaching them through what this looks like, how can they take the substantial income win that they're gonna have and and not have to give all their money to Uncle Sam and all that stuff, and so having those connections that you can that you can put your clients through with.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

Absolutely. And you know, so uh I finish up my last class on my ALC journey. It starts next week, and that's gonna be the 1031 Exchange course. And I'm pretty familiar with 1031 Exchange, but there is a lot to learn about it, so I'm super excited for the RLI uh and ACL programs to get even more knowledge so I can pass that on to my clients.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Yeah, and I think Jim's a pretty good teacher. I went through that class years ago. I think there's still the same, they're only one teacher for 1031 Exchange. So he's uh he's uh he's a fixture at Realtors Land Institute. But you'll enjoy the class, you'll definitely learn a ton. There's several core classes that you have to take, as everybody knows. 101, an investment analysis, and uh was it um not transitioning? The transitioning, right?

SPEAKER_05 10:46

Uh the transitional land. Transitional land was the other one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

What are some of the other ones that you took? You're gonna take 1031 Exchange.

SPEAKER_05 10:54

Mm-hmm. So I've also took the mapping class, and that was great. That really elevated me as an agent to learn how to do these maps and spend the time to really set myself apart from from everyone else. And my listings apart from other listings.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Yeah, land ID is such a spectacular tool for land users. And they're not they're not even a sponsor of this podcast. So so I'm not being I'm not being monetized by saying that. This really is a great tool.

SPEAKER_05 11:20

And yeah, me either. And now they have on your car, you can do the you can as you're driving along these properties, you can have land ID as car play and mark as you go where you are to then get back to the computer and say, oh, there was a whale right there. Oh, this was the tank right there. You know, it's it's good. I'm excited. They always come out with new things.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Yeah, they're definitely the cutting edge when it comes to mapping stuff, at least right now. So, like I always tell my guys, don't be afraid to go look at something. Just because today this is perfect doesn't mean it's gonna be tomorrow, but that's right. That's right. Well, let's take a quick break, Jenna, and we will be right back.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

This episode is brought to you by Jenna Searcy with the Sunset Realty team at City Real Estate. Jenna specializes in Texas farm, ranch, and rural real estate, helping families buy, sell, and invest with confidence. She also owns Charles Baker Insurance, protecting farms, ranches, businesses, and families since 1955, including specialized farm, ranch, and pivot irrigation coverage. Learn more at JennaSearcy.com or call 9402-033154. Sunset Realty Team is proudly brokered by City Real Estate located in Monday, Texas.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

All right,

Insurance That Protects Farm Operations

SPEAKER_03 12:35

we are back here with Jenna Searcy from Monday, Texas. And Jenna, I apologize. We had some technical difficulties, and so we may look like we're wearing different clothes, but I swear we're not, you know, changing our clothes every single segment. We uh had to stop and come back at this another day. So I appreciate your patience with us as we had some technical difficulties, and I hope you're doing good again today.

SPEAKER_05 12:58

Yes, I'm actually wearing the same shirt.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Well, look at you. You're you're way more savvy than I am. I was I thought about it. I was like, I probably should, but I I uh went with a different way. So but uh anyway, we are uh getting to know you a little bit, and uh one of the cool things that I think about you is that you are both a realtor and you are an insurance agent. You own an insurance company. So talk about let's talk about the insurance side of things a little bit. How did you get into insurance and and how is that going for you?

SPEAKER_05 13:30

Okay, well, with insurance, like the most common ways to get into into insurance are is through a family line of it. Like there's not a whole lot of graduating seniors say, I want to be an insurance agent. So it's really kind of a pass down. And I grew up in this insurance office, so it feels like it's part of myself. My mom owned it, and I've I've been working since I was, you know, five, six years old, answering phones or doing whatever job she could think of for me. And I'm doing the same with my kids. So they come to work with me over the summer and they have little jobs to get in the mail on. And I think the two insurance and real estate really mesh well together. Okay. We're protecting people's assets, we're protecting the biggest investment a lot of people will make over the course of their life. I'm making sure that they buy the route property, it's a good fit for them, and then covering it afterwards, whether that's a pivot. We've got a kind of a niche at our office for pivot insurance. We work really closely with one of the dealers here who will get out and fix it and help us with claims and we'll get them insured because a pivot is no small amount of money. It's hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes, definitely never less than fifty thousand. And so, yeah, we protect their assets for their farm. We make sure that if they, you know, have a piece of property that's growing cotton and the pivot goes down, that we get it fixed quickly because this is people's livelihoods. And, you know, same thing with the the equipment, the farms, the the tractors, the combines, all of that. We can get it all insured as well as you know, their house and the way they drive to their property.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

That's really cool. Pivot insurance. That's probably something I guess I haven't had much experience with it, but I'm sure that some of the farmers around our area probably have have something similar. But you you guys, let's I mean, that's kind of unique to your specific office, correct? Like there's not a whole lot of people that do it around you.

SPEAKER_05 15:17

Yes, and uh not a whole lot of people who get with uh the companies that I'm appointed with. We have diversified and they're kind of kind of selective on who they would like to be.

SPEAKER_03 15:26

They want to make sure the agency's going to take care of their clients, and so yeah, and so this is your office is a second generation office to you, right? Your mom uh bought it, and it's a third generation insurance office, right? So that the original owner was uh Charles Baker at some point in history, and so now you have Charles Baker insurance that's and you've bought that from your mom now and you run it. So kind of like we talked about in the first segment, like there's legacy is not uh not something that's foreign to you.

SPEAKER_05 15:57

No, no, and you know, I mean it's really more so than selling land, it's the legacy and the stewardship that I want to pass down. It's the principles of land ownership, and that's how I approach helping people purchase property is thinking about the legacy, whether it's coming from the seller who's had this great life with this land and he's ready to pass it on to a new generation buyer, which by the way is I can really relate with because that's my dream. I want to I want to own a ranch, and that's what I'm working towards. I've got some farmland from my granddad, and that's that's wonderful, and I'm learning a lot about managing farms and everything that comes with that. Luckily to have uh, you know, a good tenant, but it's it's about the legacy and passing things down and starting something that we can be proud of and share with with others and our families. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Well, it's pretty I mean, I I think those of us that do specialize in land or even in the rural, like if we're in real estate in the rural part of the the United States, you know, like that legacy is really still something that, you know, especially when you have that connection to the land, as far as that goes, that that's still that really important part of people's lives.

SPEAKER_05 17:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Whereas I think a lot of guys that are maybe listening to this from the city don't really understand that connection. They have a different style of legacy, um, you know, that they that they have connections with. But for us that grew up in farm country, that that history on the land is is you know, is something special. Very special. I I'm just curious though, like Jenna, how do you juggle the real estate and the insurance? I mean, um, how do you you know, like I I we you know, like joke around about it, like I have several licenses in different states, so but just keeping track of the regulations and and all that on just one industry is hard enough, let alone having to look at a two total industries and be uh in compliance with two different commissions.

SPEAKER_05 17:51

Yeah. Well, you know, it's it's I cannot do this by myself. I have great people who work for me. I've got a lady in my office who I depend on entirely, she's one of my dearest friends, and that's with insurance, and I luckily have the same thing with real estate. I've got my supervisor who I probably don't need a supervisor after six years, but I really love the team effort of two brains working out these problems. And in fact, okay, so a slight nod to my supervisor Janie, she actually got her ALC designation official today. So she made the little the little list. So Janie Hendricks with City Real Estate. Go, Janie.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

I just voted on her yesterday. So You did, all right. I will I I didn't have any issues with her. So apparently, you know, she did a great job. Those packets, I don't know if she's told you about it, but that ALC packet that is a bear. Yes, it's not they they are not messing around. When you earn that, you definitely earn it. So congratulations to her.

SPEAKER_04 18:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

And we're excited to have her in the small, small club of ALCs that are around the country.

SPEAKER_05 18:56

I'm coming y'all's way.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Come on, man. We're ready for ya.

West Texas Value Starts With Water

SPEAKER_02 19:00

We're ready for you.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Shifting back to real estate, what makes in your part of the country, what what are we looking at to the to find the value in a piece of land in your part of Texas?

SPEAKER_05 19:12

Well, my part of Texas is very similar with everyone else's. We're looking for water. Okay, this is what we have to have. All right. Whether no matter what you have in mind for development of the property, it's gotta have that water. And our water table's at about 40 feet here, so it's not some large effort to drill, but we do want to maintain our our water. And luckily we're part of uh a groundwater conservation district. I don't know what we would do without them. They've been essential for me in learning more about land. We'll go to classes and and we've got uh, you know, the director over there, he really helps us out. So water is gonna be the most important thing. Then we're also looking for soil composition. We want to make sure it's gonna grow the products in in my area for farmland. It's mainly wheat and cotton and peanuts. And the peanuts are nuts because it's also a driver for the waterfowl, which is a huge part of Knox County hunting. It's very big. We get a lot of a lot of birds fly over our skies. And that's nuts. Yeah, those are probably the the biggest things about the land is what the soil is made of and where are we getting water, how much of it is is can there be? And then also let's just tie right back into the stewardship of the water. We want to make sure it's around for generations to come, so not abusing what we have found so naturally, you know, percolating under the ground.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Yeah, that's I my friend Justin Osborne. I don't know if you've met him or not, but uh he's from Colorado and he is famous for saying uh that it that water is or whiskey's for drinking and water's for fighting over.

SPEAKER_05 20:49

So I like that.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Especially in Colorado where they have some they have water court and a few other interesting things that a lot of other states don't have.

SPEAKER_04 20:59

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

But uh it's water is a huge thing no matter where you're at. It sounds like, and I'm I guess I didn't do that part of my research very good. Where exactly in Texas are you guys located?

SPEAKER_05 21:11

Is it Okay, so on Monday, and that's halfway in between Abilene, Wichita Falls, and then also between Lubbock and Fort Worth. So we're quite literally the middle of nowhere. But we have we have a NASA peel, okay? So it's it's more of the small town lifestyle here. We're community-based and we're people based, and it's just relationships matter, our our personal worth matters, uh, you know, a handshake. We're in the land of good old boy handshakes, and I really take that to heart. That people mean what they say and they say what they mean most of the time.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Yeah, man, that's that's awesome. You know, um I think that like I that part of Texas, it seems like you do have an awful lot of agriculture around that. You know, there's some parts of Texas where it's just open ranches and some parts is all about the oil. You know, and so uh like I kinda I I know going through that part of Texas that you guys do have an awful lot of of of agriculture, kind of similar to where I'm at in Nebraska, a lot of farmers and things like that. So that's that's really cool. So that is important that we do, you know, have that water access,

Local Knowledge That Saves Deals

SPEAKER_03 22:15

especially for irrigation and for development and things like that. What's important uh local knowledge as someone that's buying or selling in your area, you know, needs to know?

SPEAKER_05 22:24

Important local knowledge for buying and selling in this area. Well, it's a lot about not what you know, but about who you know. A lot of people who might not be publicly listing their land, it's important to have that inside access to what might happen who could be swayed into into selling. And also just, yeah, I think that's the most important thing. It's not what you know, it's who it's not what you know it's who you know.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

It is, I mean, that kind of translates back to kind of what we try and tell our clients all the time is is is um great. It's America, you can sell that sucker on your own all you want to. Um, but the statistics show, you know, just in the homeownership ship statistics is what is it, 94% of all properties are sold with a real estate agent, and or 98% of all properties are sold with a real estate agent, 94% of them are sold with a realtor. You know, like that's a pretty impressive deal. So eventually, you know, there's gonna be a professional involved. And so knowing those people and who do you need to go to and things like that. I mean, I think you're right on there. You know, that's that is probably very sound advice, is get to know the the people involved. And that's the great thing about our profession, right? Is you know, we're uh we're one of the first people people meet when they come into the community.

SPEAKER_05 23:38

Yeah, I love that part about it. I love I love introducing new people to to the place that I love and I call home. That's it's really special. And I don't only just sell land, I will also sell houses too. And I I gotta say, I love a first-time home buyer. There's just something very special about helping somebody with that first purchase. And that translates perfectly over to land, you know. Everybody's gonna make their first land purchase eventually if that's something that they're interested in. And, you know, just the the price point, you really want that local expert helping you along the way. Getting to the closing table is not always smooth sailing. Sometimes there's big roadblocks in the way. And uh one thing in particular about my area is the the tax records and the deeds. And sometimes it's a bit confusing and convoluted. And we've had like our markers for the corner of this of like a stump. It's like, oh, okay, well, there's like four of them over there. Which one could it be? And this is what's written down in the deeds from 1887 or whatever. So it's it can be a challenge if you don't have the right professionals in your corner helping you along the way.

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Yeah, that is uh that is true. Words have not been spoken, I don't think, on the American Landseller podcast. But hey, Jenna, do you mind? Let's take a break. And uh you got one more segment in you? You got to got time for one more shot? I would love to, Kobe. Thank you. That's awesome. All right, we will be right back.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

The American Landseller Podcast is proud to be sponsored by Ironhorse Land Company. At Ironhorse, land is not a side business, it is all we do. From farms and ranches to recreational and development properties, our team brings deep land expertise, boots on the ground experience, and high-quality marketing to every listing. Whether you own land today or are planning for the future, Ironhorse Land Company helps landowners make confident, informed decisions. Visit Ironhorse Landcompany.com to learn more.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

All right,

Marketing Costs And Wearing Many Hats

SPEAKER_03 25:40

we're back here with Jenna Steersteve from Sunset Realty Team, and they are with City Real Estate out of Monday, Texas. And, you know, because she had five or six extra minutes in the day, she also owns Charles Barker insurance company. So just probably in the Rotary Club or something like that, too, right, Jenna? Just really act within your community. What's it what is it?

SPEAKER_05 26:02

Lions Club.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Lions Club. Yes. Help the blind. That's awesome. What do you guys do? Just I'm curious. I'm in Rotary here in Nebraska, and I was actually the district governor like eons ago for our our rotary district. I'm just curious, what are you guys doing in Texas? Like, what's the cool stuff that the Lions Club is doing there?

SPEAKER_05 26:22

And well, uh since July, I'm now the president of the Lions Club here. Yes, yes. Okay, so we do cleanups for our town. Uh we made a well, you know, we make it work. Okay, so this is a very small town thing. You make what you have work. So we had uh in our downtown park, we had an old Christmas tree that was there made out of metal, and we wrapped it up in red, white, and blue for the fourth of July event that we had here in town. Okay, so we do that. We send welcome baskets to new people who moved to town. Of course, we're always getting glasses to help the blind. We do scholarships. I mean, it's it's a great program, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Well, that's awesome, and congratulations, madam president. I didn't know I was with Lions Royalty today. All right, well, let's dig into this. You know, uh, we were talking during the break, Jenna, that um you and I have like some parallel stuff going on with our with our companies, you know, save the fact that I don't do insurance, but I've thought about it. I mean, you know, I just never did. But, you know, like we have to kind of be a jack of all trades in the areas that we live in, like and we serve. Like we serve with our company, we're across 13 states, but most of our agents are in very rural areas, very low population. And so you kind of have to have that ability to go have knowledge on those farms, ranches, recreational properties, even development, all the way through to residential commercial. You know, I'm sure you're, you know, like having to go figure out how to list a commercial property in downtown Monday every once in a while, you know. And so help us out with like how does that like just all the stuff that you have going on, how do you keep up with like shifting gears on those different properties that you may have to represent?

SPEAKER_05 28:03

Well, again, it's about the people around me. So I have I have Janie, who I'm so thankful for. She helps with me with my commercial items that come up come up sometimes. And also, you know, the way that we advertise, the way that we market, we can, you know, put it on loopnet and craxy. And these are no small amounts of money to advertise on. Like your your average seller might not have it. Same with land.com, you know, for for our land. Like it is not, it is not cheap to market properties, and it also might take a little bit of experience and an eye, you know. We can't just uh throw photos up and hope they work. We want them to be good. We want that we want to represent our properties appropriately. We gotta make the brochures, and I don't know, I'm not the biggest fan of AI flyers, so I make sure that I make my own instead of just putting them in the computer and having it spit it out for me. Yeah, so just a jack of all trades. And I just I don't know how I keep up with it, Kobe, because we have we have so many aspects of real estate and so many aspects of insurance, and then you know, to take it home and our family life and how we and how we maintain that balance. I will maintain that balance pretty well because this next week I'm going to uh Range Beach, Gulf Shores, Alabama for for some fun in the sun and sand.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

Wow. And you know, um not a lot of people would be brave enough to say that they're going to Alabama for fun and sun. So uh it seems like this. The weather's supposed to be great. Oh my gosh. If you see any if you see any big land deals down there, I am licensed in Alabama, so I'd be happy to great.

SPEAKER_05 29:33

Well, I can refer you out then because I'll have referrals.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

I will referrate down there and I will go down there and partner with something. We'll do a marketing, we'll do a marketing partnership, and I'll I'll I'll be happy to partner with you and and do that. But since you brought up referrals though, you and I, again, like

Referrals Built On Client Care

SPEAKER_03 29:50

I'm just loving the fact that we have an awful lot in common here. We're talking about referrals and networking on the break. Referrals are like lifeblood for most of us, especially in the land world. Talk about like where are your referrals coming from? Like, where do you get them? You know, I know you're probably, you know, know a lot of people around the country through insurance, through real estate, through the Lions. You probably can refer stuff out. How does that work? And, you know, are you you I I think you're a huge fan of referrals, you know, and working together with other agents. Talk about that for just a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

Absolutely. Well, uh, you know, the goal isn't trading referrals because it's expected, it's making sure the clients that we know that we would want to help if we were able get treated the way they should. And it's making sure that they have the best outcome. If uh, you know, if we all approach it that everybody wins, including the buyers, the sellers, the agents. That's how relationships are built. And so I'm happy to take on referrals and I'm also happy to send them off to qualified individuals. I will treat your clients like like they're my family. And I would hope that others do the same. And, you know, making making these connections, making the networking. It's so important. And right back to the National Land Conference. What an amazing thing to do. I just I feel so so fortunate to be a part of of RLI and on my ALC journey.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Yeah, I think that you you talk about networking and like going to those meetings, and I'm hoping that you're getting plugged into the Texas chapter of the Realtors Land Institute. Those guys are a hoot, man. There's some crazy people down there, and it's so much fun, and they have so much going on. The the ranch tour, I don't know if you've had a chance to check one of those out yet, but they are just it's it's a whole lot of stuff going on for the networking and for the education portion of things. But you know, like you you said what I think a lot of especially RLI members would would latch onto, which is it is all about taking care of the client.

SPEAKER_05 31:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

It realistically is, you know, there's you know, like we're going through right now a training on listings, right? And so one of the things I keep trying to get through to my guys is you do not have to take every single listing. You know, I would rather, much rather have a cordial relationship or a friendship with a seller and not list their property. Yeah, because I don't want to be set up for failing. You kind of feel like that's probably your mindset too. It's just whatever it takes to make sure that the win happens for them. Absolutely, you know, to the point where if they have to maybe try, you know, go lose with somebody else. You know, that's what I said. Hopefully they sell it for you, man. But man, I just I can't see it. But how is it go go ahead?

SPEAKER_05 32:28

We don't like we don't succeed by like guarding these opportunities and guarding these clients. We succeed by helping each other out. Again, with the with the people who help me manage so much and juggle so much, I could never do this by myself. We have we I feel like we must rely on each other in order for everybody to succeed, especially our buyers and sellers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

And and again, like the best outcome is everybody wins, right? Like I was with REMAC for six, seven years, and that was their motto was you know, like everybody wins. That's what they wanted. And and that really did teach me a lot. Shifting gears just a little bit, you know, we're talking, we talked a lot about all

Buyer Advice And Boots On Ground

SPEAKER_03 33:05

kinds of stuff, insurance, everything, but let's shift back to the land world, all right? What do you think people really should know, or what did they not know about land agents that they maybe should know?

SPEAKER_05 33:17

Okay, well, it's I think for buyers, what they should know is to not rush it and to walk it. Visit it more than once, more than twice, go see it after it rains, okay? So that's these are all things that I would suggest to buyers to do. And as far as what they might not know about the land agents is like the boots on the ground aspect of it. Like you might not know how hard it is to get a sign, a big real estate sign, into clay. So I really need a sign, guy, Kobe. So that's something people might not know about land agents, is I'm out there digging those holes myself. Making it work in a hundred degree heat. Yeah, that doesn't sound like too terribly much fun, but you know, it is but it's good though, because if I'm putting a sign in the ground, it means that my that I've I've got this piece of property that can be somebody's dream. And so it's it's worth it. But it does make me realize like the boots on the ground part of it.

SPEAKER_03 34:18

Yeah, I I I definitely like that's one of the things that as I started decided that I wanted to have like you know, go get my license in multiple states and work a little bit bigger area. And in real life, the reality is I just want to build a team in those areas. Like, I don't necessarily feel like I need to go to Alabama and list the property, you know, but I want to build, you know, so we've we've made those arrangements so that those those areas that we're filling them in with team members. And uh, but you know, like it's it's really interesting how different, you know, like even from northeastern Arkansas, where you can get away with corrugated, you know, essentially corrugated signs on like I call them political yard signs. Like those guys use political yard signs down there for their real estate signs. Up here.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Yeah, I know. Like probably like where you're at, where I'm at, we have like steel frames and metal signs and bolted together.

SPEAKER_05 35:10

70 mile an hour winds ready to take those down at any moment.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

That's exactly right. And and there's a thing, there's a thing where I'm from that's called, you know, every two or three weeks we go check our signs, right? To make sure that they're Yeah. They uh the guys are guys are always giving me hard time because I'll drive by and take a picture if their signs crooked and send it to them and say, What are we doing?

SPEAKER_05 35:31

Like what Yeah, no, I could not agree more. It's it's how we're showing ourselves to the world. I don't want to be shown as crooked, you know. I want to have a good presentation.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

I'll send them I'll send them a picture of their sign and say, Are you applying at another company that I don't know of? You know, like somebody else. There's some people that don't care about them, and I uh I'm definitely not that guy. But uh you know, um you you've talked, and I kind of want to circle back to this before we end today, is you've talked an awful lot about legacy and your family's legacy and like just that connection to the 1800s, right? Like, isn't that just insane that you can go stand on your property and know that at one point your your kin was standing there, you

LLCs, Estate Planning, And Risk

SPEAKER_03 36:15

know, in the 1800s? Like, and so I really want to know is is like if someone inherited a family farm and or ranch tomorrow and uh had no idea what they needed to do, what would be like some advice that you would give them going through what even you went through?

SPEAKER_05 36:32

Yes, so I did. I've I've got handed a big slab of of uh potential that was already established, but I could have just as easily ruined that as I have building it up and up. Uh, but one thing I would talk about if somebody inherited land, I would suggest that they get an LLC to put in the farm. And this is because if you have, let's say you have a a tractor, let's put that on your insurance policy with your LLC. So that way, if your tractor has a claim, it's not going to affect your home insurance premiums. Let's separate those two out just a little bit. It gives you protection and it also helps making tax time easier. You have these separate businesses all going on, you're able to give them to your accountant appropriately instead of it all just being on your personal name. Let's get some LLCs involved, let's get some protection for ourselves. And also, well, it's just really cool to have an LLC too. Just just it's just it's fun. It's nice. It's like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

Well, and I think like the rules of the limited liability companies are is that and and I don't know like litigation-wise, whether I'm not giving legal advice. I'm just saying this is the way I understand it is you really can't lose more than you've got into it, you know. So there's there's some rules on that's liability protection. Yeah. Um, just like you said, not just an insurance protection, but a straight up liability protection. Also super smart, super smart advice.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

Yeah. Also, it's is good to if you inherit this hand land, surprisingly, let's get to an attorney and draft what would happen if you were to die the next day. Okay. I want this legacy to pass on to my kids. When when people die, sometimes families get real sour and things get twisted, and it is not fun. You want to have that laid out and protected for the people you care about the most. And the land that you cherish so much, or the house, or the business, or whatever it is. Like we want to make sure that things are in place for worst-case scenarios. Always. I think that's the insurance agent and me talking. We're always thinking about worst case scenarios.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Yeah. Very positive business you're in.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

That's that's fun. But no, what's um if you could give one piece of advice to a young professional that's looking at getting into either the insurance or the brokerage, like resident a real estate business, like what would be something that you would tell them?

SPEAKER_05 38:59

I would tell them learn more than just the contracts. The contracts are very important to learn. I'm not downplaying that at all. Like we need to know what's in those contracts in order to not be surprised. And, you know, time is of the essence in a lot of paragraphs. But I would say for new land agents that they would want to study, you know, the land itself, the soil, the water, what agriculture is in the area, what are the farmers growing? When is the harvest time? When is the planting time? You know, the the wildlife as well. What can we plant to attract these animals, or what can we do to attract these animals, which of course is water. Let's like that's a that's just what we always go back to is is is the water. Um, also the county regulations. Get your boots literally on the ground, walk those property lines, and listen more than you talk. And lastly, just never stop learning.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

That's awesome. That is some super smart advice for people that are wanting to get in there because I kind of like I you went through a lot of detail, but uh, this is what I heard. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do your research, take care of your client, listen more than you talk. What is the old thing that uh God gave you two ears and one mouth because he wants you to listen twice as much as you speak?

SPEAKER_05 40:13

So it's been a long time since I've heard that saying.

SPEAKER_03 40:17

I'm bringing up some oldies but goodies here. All

How To Reach Jenna And Closing

SPEAKER_03 40:20

right. Well, I appreciate you so much coming on here. And I really do I'm excited, Jenna, because you are now uh taking over a sponsorship for the American Landseller Podcast for the next few months. So we're excited to have you on board. I hope you love the commercials that our team has come up for you on here. Uh, we'll be celebrating you on our social media and things like that as well. And so as we close out here, where can people find you?

SPEAKER_05 40:43

Hey, well, you can definitely find me on the phone. I'm very much in pocket. I'm not an agent that's gonna send it to voicemail. I pick up the phone when somebody calls, and that's important for for clients, for other agents, for for everybody. So you can find me on the phone 940-203-3154. Also, Facebook, love it. I mean, it's it's it's the way that our small town community connects with one another. So you can find me on Facebook at Jenna Cersei Sir Real Estate Agent, certified insurance counselor, back to that mouthful. And also online for my insurance office. We've got charlesbakerinsurance.com. And uh yeah, I would just love to connect whether you're a buyer or seller or another agent. Let's make something happen.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

Yeah. Well, it's been great getting to know you through this whole process. I appreciate again your patience with our technical difficulties, and uh it's just some days the interweb doesn't work the way it's supposed to work.

SPEAKER_05 41:40

So yes, that's right. I love technology until I don't.

SPEAKER_03 41:44

We work we worked through it, and everybody got to see two of my wonderful shirts that I have on, and you're a trooper, you went home, washed yours, and came back in the same gear. So if the insurance and uh if the insurance and the real estate stuff doesn't work out, I was in the military for a while, and I think you know, being able to be uh Bendy like that, you could probably work out there too. So well, thanks again, Jenna, for being a part of this today, and for everybody else, we will see you all down the road. All right.

SPEAKER_01 42:11

As we wrap up another episode of the American Landseller Podcast, thank you for spending part of your week with us. For more episodes, resources, and updates, visit www.americanlandseller.com. And be sure to find us on your favorite podcast platform. If you found value in today's conversation, please like, subscribe, follow, rate, and review the show on whatever app you are listening or watching on. It helps more landowners and land professionals find the podcast. You can also connect with us on social media for updates, new episodes, and behind the scenes content. Until next week, Kobe and Brittany wish you success in all your land endeavors. God bless you and have a great week.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

The American Land Seller Podcast is proud to be sponsored by Jenna Searcy and the Sunset Realty team. If you're buying or selling farm, ranch, or rural property in Texas, you deserve someone who understands the land because she lives it. Jenna Searcy is a Texas realtor, landowner, agricultural manager, and lifelong advocate for rural communities. She believes land is more than acreage, it's legacy, livelihood, and opportunity. And she's passionate about helping clients navigate every step of the process with confidence. To learn more, call Jenna at 9402-033154 or email Jenna at jennasearcy.com. The Sunset Realty team is proudly brokered by City Real Estate, a trusted full-service brokerage serving Texas since 2000, with offices in Monday, Texas. We are also proud to be sponsored by Iron Horse Land Company, a multi-state land brokerage specializing in farm, ranch, recreational, and development land across the heartland. Built by land professionals, Iron Horse Land Company sets the iron standard through high-quality marketing, real world land expertise, and a boots on the ground approach that puts landowners first. To learn more, visit Ironhorse Land Company dot com.