The Land and Luxury Group is now affiliated with Compass Real Estate. The brokerage, headed by Joanna Gaines Utley and Ben Lewis, was previously under the Modtown Realty umbrella.
According to Utley, she’d been eyeing Compass for a while but hadn’t reached out to them. When word got out that Modtown would be dissolving, the duo interviewed with several firms. At the end of the day, they were most impressed with what Compass had to offer.
“When I was talking with Compass, I asked them to show me all of their technology,” Utley recalled. “An hour and 30 minutes into it I was just amazed and decided that if I didn’t move now I was going to have to move there later. They have everything built for the future of real estate. I was very impressed.”
Lewis and Utley originally worked together at RE/MAX Landmark in Rockwall. They both moved to Modtown around the same time and soon decided to team up after working on a deal together. The experience made them realize that maybe their combined strengths would give them an advantage.
“After meeting and looking at our business, we thought we could benefit from working together,” Lewis said. “Joanna does an amazing job of staging and nurturing her clients and I’m more of a numbers guy. We complement each other really well.”
Lewis grew up wanting to be a Realtor. His aunt and uncle, Susan and Bob Shallow, are prolific agents in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Bob has twice been named RE/MAX’s top-selling broker in the world. Growing up, Lewis enjoyed spending time with them and was inspired to follow in their footsteps.
“I spoke with my aunt Susan not too long ago and she said, ‘There’s no such thing as a good deal if both parties don’t win.’ I really enjoy working with other agents that understand that.”
Utley’s professional career began managing restaurants. One of her regular customers was an agent and insisted she give real estate a try. She also worked with a developer who further piqued her interest. Before long Utley knew she wanted to be in the business. When she was just starting out, a friend of hers designed a tiny home that was going to be featured on HGTV. When the network asked if he knew a Realtor, Utley got the call.
“On the show, I was mostly shopping,” she recalls. “He had already designed the home but wanted to look at other tiny houses to develop his plan”
Land and Luxury Group has been active in both East Dallas and areas outside of the city. Utley and Lewis handle nearly every project together. Their company name reflects their commitment to handling both residential properties and land sales, including a 21-acre tract in Rowlett that is now under contract for development. The group recently added a third member when Bret Whitfield joined the team in August. He knew Utley and Lewis at Modtown and approached them about working together this summer. Utley and Lewis were impressed with his work ethic, and believe he will be great for their firm, which they believe is headed to even bigger things.
“We want everybody to be happy and enjoy working with us just as much as we enjoy working with them,” Lewis said.
