Justin Landon, CEO, MetroTex Association of REALTORS®
CEO of the MetroTex Association of Realtors Justin Landon spoke with Invest: about the ever-changing dynamics of the real estate industry and the preservation of real estate as a means to generate generational wealth.
What are your primary goals for the association in your first year?
Just after I started at MetroTex, we were notified that a class action lawsuit involving residential real estate had settled. This has heavily impacted our organization in terms of communication to our members and helping them deal with a significant change in residential real estate.
As a professional trade association, our goal is to provide our members with the knowledge, expertise and education they need to be successful in an ever-changing real estate market. These new regulatory challenges arise against the backdrop of a marketplace that has been under-inventoried for over a decade, with rapidly escalating home prices. Today’s interest rates, while still historically normal, are substantially higher than the rates we experienced over the last three or four years. So it’s a marketplace that has already been dealing with challenges, and now we’re adding this new regulatory environment. From our perspective at MetroTex, we want to continue leading the industry and providing the resources our practitioners need to be successful in the marketplace, while simultaneously maintaining a focus on consumer interests.
What trends are you seeing in North Texas that might impact your clients and members in the coming year?
Due to the influx of rapid changes, there is immense uncertainty in the real estate industry right now. One of the most significant impacts is technology — with the development of AI becoming more practical, technology will change the industry and make agents much more efficient.
Homebuyers and sellers have been watching home prices surge. Since 2014, the DFW’s median sales price has grown by over $200,000, doubling in just 10 years. While we don’t anticipate home prices going backward, we do expect a slowdown in price escalation.
Are there any specific regions of the DFW metro area in which you are observing growth?
North Texas is one of the fastest-growing markets in the country. We’re certainly seeing a ton of growth on the periphery of DFW, especially in communities like Celina and Forney, with over 50% population growth since 2020. One of the greatest aspects of the metroplex is that it’s a job center for the country as well as a hub for infrastructure and transportation, and with these developments come a need for housing.
Are you observing any improvements regarding housing stock, and what kinds of long-term implications do you see for these developments?
Unfortunately, housing inventory and housing affordability are complex issues that cannot be fixed with easy-sounding sound bites. The truth is that it’s going to take long-term effort on several fronts to solve these problems. We need to consider diversifying the kinds of housing needed by our communities, and we need to be willing to contemplate denser housing and zoning reforms. One of the steepest challenges for Texas homebuyers involves increasing property tax bills and insurance costs due to our propensity for natural disasters.
Real estate is one of the single greatest wealth-generating vehicles in the world, so we need to do everything we can to ensure that America’s middle- and lower-middle-income families can afford to purchase real estate and generate wealth through ownership. Without this, you’re going to see much less economic success among Americans.
What initiatives are you planning to introduce to ensure continuous learning and growth for your members?
We are developing an on-demand learning platform that is designed to provide education for real estate professionals in North Texas. We are excited about the opportunities this new platform, coined My MetroTex Campus, will bring to help continuing education become more accessible to the working agent. We are committed to connecting with our members where they are, so we engage with them through 17 regional meetings a month across the metroplex. MetroTex represents about 60% of all real estate agents in the metroplex, so our members live all over the region.
What is your advice to young professionals aspiring to build a career in real estate?
Real estate is one of the last true meritocracies in the world. You only go as far in real estate as your last deal, meaning your success is based on your effort, not inheritance. It may look easy, but be prepared to work hard. Focus on networking. Find a mentor, and ensure you understand that you have to be committed to the long term. It takes a significant period of investment of your time to see a positive ROI. Be patient, understand you’re going to get out of it what you put into it, and you should definitely join MetroTex.
What steps are you taking to prepare for MetroTex’s evolution over the next decade?
The Realtor association is unique in that we were founded to benefit both our members and consumers. We’re here to assist our members by providing resources and education, but more importantly, we’re here to ensure that the real estate marketplace remains healthy by advocating not only for our members but also for homebuyers, home sellers, business owners, business sellers, commercial real estate property managers and all the rest. Our goal is to make sure our members have all the tools they need to help people who need to find a place to live.
How are your members navigating emerging trends like hybrid work and the reduction of office spaces?
Hybrid work has changed consumer preferences. Not long ago, the average consumer wanted a three-bedroom, two-bath home with a large yard adjacent to transportation corridors. Today’s consumers more likely want a three-bedroom, two-bath home with a small yard, and they don’t really care if their home is close to transportation corridors, as they’re only heading to the office a couple days a week and will tolerate a slightly longer commute.
When it comes to office spaces, the membership and brokerage communities are seeing a decrease in brick-and-mortar business operations. Companies are shifting to smaller office spaces with lots of coworking environments where agents can come in and collaborate, rather than each individual having a traditional office with a door.
What are MetroTex’s top priorities for the next few years?
We’re focused on providing value to our members and communities. Our goal is to provide a suite of technology and business services that help our brokerages operate more effectively in the marketplace, which, in turn, empowers the brokerages to serve their agents and their agents then to serve consumers.
How would you describe your role in the industry?
Real estate has put food on my family’s table for three generations, and I am passionate about this industry. I see a real opportunity for the DFW community to decide what real estate looks like for future generations. My hope is that MetroTex can help preserve real estate as one of the most socially mobile financial vehicles, to create opportunities for people to grow wealth and to leave the world for future generations better than we found it.
