Real Estate Broker Finds The Right Mix for Success

There was a time when one of Northwest Arkansas’ most consistent Realtors thought his career might unfold as a banker.

David Mix was born and raised in Fayetteville, and when he was 20, while attending the University of Arkansas, he was starting off in the financial industry, working part time at McIlroy Bank & Trust in his hometown.

But an offer from a family friend, a Fayetteville real estate broker named Dave Fulton, helped put Mix on the real estate path, a road he has followed ever since.

“I went to work for Dave in 1982 and I’ve never looked back,” Mix recalled. “I’ve worked in real estate for 32 years, now the question is, can I do it for another 30 years? That’s kind of my goal. There’s not a better career to have.”

It’s hard to argue with Mix, who — when he was just 27 years old — partnered with Mary Bassett and B.W. Dykes to launch his own real estate firm.

Dykes sold his stake in the company when he retired in 1993, and Bassett and Mix have endured as the founding principals of Bassett Mix & Associates, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in June 2014.

The company was founded with intentions of developing its niche in the city of Fayetteville, but it has grown to include markets throughout Northwest Arkansas.

Bassett Mix is annually one of the 10 largest full-service firms in the area in terms of residential volume, and has done so with a philosophy of maintaining what Mix calls a manageable number of Realtors.

Within a few agents either way, Bassett Mix generally has about 30 agents at a given time, a philosophy Mix said was settled on many years ago.

“Other companies grew to have 100 or 200 agents, but Mary and I wanted to have more of a family-oriented business,” Mix explained. “We actually had a chance to buy a really big building once and grow that way and gain more market share, but we thought we should just stay where we are. It’s probably one of the biggest decisions we ever made.”

Mix, a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 2001 Forty Under 40 class, said the philosophy has created continuity among employees. Seven agents have been with the company since its founding, and several others have been with Bassett Mix for more than a decade.

Mix added that the firm’s greatest achievement comes from maintaining a high level of respect in the real estate industry. The standard he sets for his company is reflected in his own personal philosophy of what it takes to be successful.

“It’s not about houses; it’s about people,” he said. “I strongly believe that it’s not a sales business; it’s a people business. If you don’t treat people like you want to be treated, you won’t be successful. And it’s not just [with] customers, it’s with other agents, other brokers. It’s how you relate. Fifty percent of your business is going to be delivered to you from another agent, probably. You’ve got to have the ability to deal with people in a great manner.”

Mix said low interest rates and a strong local economy continue to drive the residential market in Northwest Arkansas.

“The national economy is still a little shaky, but from what I can tell right now, we’re off to one of our biggest and best starts so far this first quarter,” Mix said. “The market has come back, definitely.”

Along with established neighborhoods including Candlewood, Savanna Estates and Covington Park, Mix said Waterford Estates, located on Arkansas Highway 45, just east of Fayetteville, is a particular addition that seems to be thriving.

Stone Mountain, situated east of Crossover Road, near Arkansas Highway 16, is another hot subdivision, Mix said.

“The homes there have gone up in value about $10 per square foot in the last two years,” he said. “It is doing very well.”

Mix has served on several agent-related advisory committees through the years, and he can often be found at Fayetteville Country Club, where he’s played golf since he was a kid.

“If my knees will hold up, I love to play tennis, too,” he joked.

As for the future, Mix is a Fayetteville guy through and through. With his wife, Jana Buckley, three grown daughters and a stepdaughter, Mix said there are no plans to leave.

“We’re hoping [one day] to live in a condo on Dickson Street,” he said. “I’ve never left and I want to live here my whole life.”