Bob McCranie, the owner of Texas Pride Realty Group, says now’s the time to be who you are and stand for what you believe in.
He’s built his business on accepting others, hiring people who couldn’t get employed at traditional brokerages, and serving clients who just want to be treated like human beings despite their appearance or sexual orientation.
“We get that we’re different and we’re OK with that,” McCranie said. “I want to be who I am at all times. I don’t want to be in a car driving someone around and have them figure out who I am and panic about it. If you don’t like me, there are a thousand other real estate companies. Nothing’s worse than trying to mute yourself just to make a commission.”
McCranie started his company in 2009 after a long career in information technology and a few attempts at working for other area brokerages. Two years ago, Texas Pride moved as a group under broker Brenda Thompson with HomeSmart Stars.
As Pride Month is celebrated nationally this month, McCranie acknowledged that his business is more about matching clients to an agent they connect with than championing the LGBTQ+ community (although they do that, too).
“Everybody deserves respect, as long as they give it,” he said.
Something For Everyone
McCranie, 55, lives in Carrollton and said he had difficulty getting hired after he got his real estate license in 2003.
“They told me to walk away,” he said. “A lot of people are gay but don’t want to be known and labeled.”
He found a good working relationship with Deb Elder and began working in the LGBTQ+ market outside LBJ.
“Nobody was going for it,” he said. “My partner and I at the time just bought a house in Carrollton. We could not find an insurance company that would insure two men. There was no dignity in it, no good feeling about us being a couple together. The community needed to have respect. You’re making the biggest purchase of your lifetime up to that point and you deserve to be treated well.”
He stayed with Elder until she moved to Florida and ultimately began his own business, never flinching at what to call it.
“People who understand what it means, they get it,” he said of the name Texas Pride Realty Group. “And some people think I really love Texas, that I’m proud of Texas.”
McCranie said he wanted to create a diverse environment that extends beyond catering to the gay community.
“We know people of color are not served right, and trans people are not welcome anywhere,” he said. “We will serve them as clients and hire them as agents.”
He invites intelligent debate and discussion about these matters, acknowledging that sometimes an insult doesn’t come from hate but ignorance.
“I reject the word stigma,” McCranie said. “Do you have to fight the stigma of looking like a heterosexual person?”
He’s heard it all — “pride is sinful” and “this is too woke for us.”
“This is the reality of being in a red meat state,” he said. “There are people who will look at us and say, ‘Why do you people need your own agency?’ That question itself is also the answer.”
In fact, Texas lags behind nearly all states in providing an inclusive work environment for LGBTQ+ employees, according to OutLeadership’s 2022 State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index.
The Business Model
McCranie and his 25 agents pride themselves on a collaborative business model that involves not just selling homes, but mentoring, coaching, and teamwork.
“I don’t want to hire a diva walking in like [Dynasty’s] Alexis Carrington with her shoulder pads,” McCranie said. “We are here to share. We don’t do intermediaries within our group. We don’t sell our own listings. Everybody is on the same team.”
A certified Tom Ferry International real estae business coach, McCranie mentors his agents with biweekly coaching sessions.
He posts videos from the personal social media accounts of his agents on the Texas Pride Realty Group website in an effort to allow potential clients to connect with personalities. People may be drawn to the agent who collects action figures, has tattoos, or lost 100 pounds through intermittent fasting, McCranie explained.
“When someone comes to us and wants to buy a house, we try to find out who they are,” he said. “Usually we have someone on the team who is like them and will understand them natively. We have people who might fit you and are educated on how to fit you. I want to have a website where everyone looks different — different races, cultures, and gender identities.”
The agents share information with each other and work collaboratively.
“MIkey Abrams is probably our best agent as far as making sales and he will share everything he knows with you,” McCranie said. “People think this business is easy. As long as people pay their fees, they can stay at the brokerage. No one is mentoring the agents. Accountability is the No. 1 way to make people move forward. I tell people, ‘I don’t work for you. I work for future you. You told me these were your goals. How are we going to get there if we’re not doing our daily work?’ If we’re not reaching our sphere someone else is. In real estate, you have to set your own course work, and your own agenda. If no one is there helping you, you languish. You drift. When we go to recruit, we’re looking for the one or two faces in the room that light up and say, ‘They’re different like me.’ We don’t want to hire a hundred agents. We’re not a puppy mill agency.”
In today’s market, people are realizing how hard it is to sell a home, McCranie added.
“The good will survive,” he said. “This is not 2021 where you can throw a sign in a yard and 50 offers fly in.”
Pride Month
McCranie is happy to talk about the hot-button issues going on in the world today — politics, religion, abortion, and guns. It’s those uncomfortable conversations that sometimes lead to education, unity, and, well, pride in one’s true self, he says.
The brokerage recently hosted a Pride event in Carrollton that drew a crowd of about 900 people. McCranie said he was encouraged to see children drawing with sidewalk chalk messages of love and acceptance.
“Pride needs to happen in the suburbs so local kids can see it,” he said. “It’s so heartening to see kids get it. We did this event with the idea that there could be a shooter. The officers complimented us because of the way we arranged the parking. They told us engine blocks and tires stop bullets. This should be rainbows and glitter, and we’re thinking, ‘If there’s a shooter, run this way.’”
McCranie has received death threats, and like many Realtors, has thought about his safety when meeting a stranger to show a home.
“People want to take a swipe at you just for existing,” he said.
Recently he met friends at a local restaurant for his birthday. It wasn’t their first-choice venue and McCranie wasn’t dressed for half-price appetizers and a Rangers game.
“I walked into this place looking like a gay disco ball,” he said. “I thought, ‘I’m just going to stand here and take all the stares because some other people don’t have the option to put it away and conform. We’re showing what it’s like to live authentically ourselves. I’m being as me as I can be. Do we feel targeted? Yes? Do we do it anyway? Yes.”
