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Land Agency …. a respectable profession?

“How much? Get out!” (followed by the noise of a slamming door). Another day in the life of the hapless land agent, doing his level best to get the most for the least. At least that’s the common perception, but here at Turner Drake we approach things a little differently. Our team of Land Agents follow the concept of “principled negotiation”, not positional bargaining. And it works. We are routinely retained to provide Land Agency services under contract to governments and corporations, who are increasingly out-sourcing this type of work to the private sector. The projects we work on are large and small, involving anywhere from half a dozen to several hundred different property owners, and our mandate is simple: negotiate fair deals for the purchase of land interests to support infrastructure projects. Without upsetting anyone.

Roads and transmission lines are especially popular these days. Seems we just can’t live without them. These are corridor acquisitions: mile after mile of trees and fields with the occasional home or business. All neighbours. All savvy negotiators. And all deeply suspicious of strangers who turn up on the doorstep bearing gifts. So our approach must respect that and we have developed a simple formula built around three principles:

Consistency
We can’t divulge offers and settlements to neighbours. It’s a privacy thing. But we expect that neighbours will talk as soon as we leave. In fact we encourage it. They can compare figures if they like, essentially testing our integrity to see if anyone got a better or worse deal than the others. And therein lies the challenge with corridor acquisitions. Those at the end of the line must be treated the same as those at the beginning; those who settle quickly must be treated the same as those who hold out for more; those who shout must be treated the same as those who whisper. Sure, there are perfectly valid reasons for paying different amounts, but it can’t be arbitrary. It must be explainable. It must be credible. And it must be fair.

Transparency
We go to great lengths to make sure landowners understand what is happening and what is going to happen. Large infrastructure projects will already have gone through a very public process by the time we get involved and many landowners will have attended open houses …. and perhaps already made their views known. But the regulatory framework for compensation and landowner’s rights under the law are usually a mystery. We explain them. Fully. Our team of Land Agents are trained negotiators with the support of an entire team of in-house professionals to draw on. So we don’t present take-it-or-leave-it offers. We explain how they are calculated, usually by reference to a base-line appraisal or a third party site-specific appraisal. All of which is revealed to the landowners so they too can see how the calculations are made.

Respect
It goes without saying but we’ll say it anyway. Every landowner has a story to tell and it is our job to listen. Respectfully and with an open mind. Of course we don’t believe everything we hear, but invariably we will learn something from everyone just sitting around their kitchen table. Eating the free cookies. Most people just want their voice to be heard, and anyone who is being asked to give up their land against their wishes deserves to be heard. We call it respect. It builds trust and it leads to mutually agreeable results. And that’s all we’re looking to achieve. Without drama. Without the slamming of doors.

Lee Weatherby is the Vice President of our Counselling Division. If you’d like more information about our counselling services, feel free to contact Lee at (902) 429-1811 or

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