Landen Miller is a successful real estate agent in the DFW area. He works long hours, on average selling a house every 8 days or so, and doesn’t have much free time. He wants it that way though.
“My wife and I have been captivated by the FIRE movement,” he said. “That’s financial independence, retire early. We work overtime and live below our means in order to have the freedom of our time sooner vs decades away. Time we can spend wisely with our kids and giving back to the community.”
Miller graduated from Dublin High School in 2008, and went on to Tarleton to study business management. He graduated with his bachelor’s in 2012.
The ongoing recession made it hard to find a job right away. “At that time, the oilfield in West Texas was really booming,” he said. “That’s where most people were headed out to, and I ended up getting a job out there.”
The job ended up not being a good fit. “I worked out there for two years before figuring out, that’s not the industry or lifestyle I want to live all the time,” he said.
So Miller moved to the Metroplex and took a job at an investment firm for a while. “I lasted four months,” he said. “It was just not for me. I was not cut out to do that job. It was cutthroat.”
In 2015, he earned his real estate license, and finally found a job he loved as a Realtor at Century 21 Judge Fite. “I really liked the people, they had a really good culture — and they still do,” he said. “As I went through the training I really found that this was a place I wanted to be.”
Miller has remained at Century 21 for nine years now, and he brings his small town upbringing into his big city realtor job. “Part of something that I think I’ve been able to take out of growing up in a small town is, when I went to Dublin, everybody knew everybody, and you had more of a reputation,” he said. “Up here [in the city] you can pretty easily get lost in the numbers; people can be terrible at their job, and they still get business because they get lost in the crowds. I’ve always taken an approach of treating people how I was raised, like how you would treat your neighbor or your family member. Even though you don’t know [the customer] and you may not ever see them again, you still took good care of them, you know, you put them ahead of your own interests.”
“In the city, there’s a lot of people that will run you over if you let them,” he went on. “I think that’s something that really separates me from the rest of the crowd, is genuinely wanting to help people. That’s just how we grew up. If somebody got in a bind, you went and tried to help in any way you could. That’s not the default up here. But it’s done me very well in business.”
Miller puts a lot of time and enthusiasm into his work. “On an average week, I’m probably working around like 60 to 70 hours,” he said. “A lot of that is showing properties, but also helping people if somebody’s got a problem, or something comes up in their house, I always try to help them figure out, okay, what can we do?”
He makes a point to be helpful and available for his customers. “When you buy a house, there’s a lot of questions and hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line,” he said. “I spend a lot of time with buyers and sellers, talking with people, educating them, on how do you buy a house? How to be wise about buying a house? How do you maintain your property over the long run?”
Miller is looking forward to an early retirement. “Sales demands a lot,” he said. “You always have to be on, you always have to be ready. You’re not guaranteed anything the next day, you’re always trying to find your next deal. And it’s exhausting. The longer I’ve done it, the easier it’s gotten, but it’s still very taxing.”
He and his wife own three rental properties, and hope to continue buying properties until they can live on their rental income. “[We want] to not have to be forced to work +40 hours a week and be able to volunteer and do more for the community,” he said. “We dream of that often, honestly.”
Miller and his wife Jacy have lived in Fort Worth for the past nine years. Miller’s wife is also a realtor, and they organize their schedules to take care of their two sons, Ridge, 6, and Graham, 2. His parents Terry and Patti Miller still live in Dublin.
When he does have some free time, he enjoys spending it out fishing. “I’ll go anywhere that has water — I’m not picky at all,” he said. “We have a little pond in a neighborhood near us, and it’s really quick and easy for me to get to. Sometimes we’ll bring the boys out there because there’s a playground and I’ll just go fish over there.”
Milleroffersthefollowing advice to Dublin graduates: “Be willing to work hard, constantly be learning, and be kind,” he said. “Our culture tells us we need to yell and fight to get what we want, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. Kindness will take you further and open many more opportunities in life.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.