HEY, IT PAYS THE RENT

WELCOME

Hey, y’all! I am back from Montana, which may well be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Between going so far north for my trip and whatever is bedeviling the Atlanta weather right now, it sure feels like fall has crept up early. We’ve been in the low 70s here and it is… weird. It’s not just weird; it’s seeping into my sellers’ mindsets. Often, when the weather turns and school begins, it’s not uncommon for people to throw in the towel on selling and just hunker down. I have three clients taking their homes off the market this week, and that’s not unexpected. While this phenomenon always happens in the fall, I have never seen it go down this early. I’m so curious about everyone else’s experience that I even talked about this on my Instagram Live on Monday.

In this same Live, I also had someone ask about when to pivot a sale into a lease. I thought it was such a good question that I decided rentals are our topic for today. And in honor of this, I’ll even have a special deal for y’all!

So let’s get right to it!

glenndabaker

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GLENNDA X TURBOTENANT

The Collab We Landlords Need

Are any of y’all landlords? Well, I am, and I tell you what, I am always looking for a way to squeeze every last drop of profit out of my rental properties. So I have got big news! I just partnered with TurboTenant, which is the best all-in-one tool for managing your rentals yourself. And right now, you can snag a membership and TurboTenant will give my audience 10% off the first year of premium service with the code GLENNDA10.

I swear, I cannot tell you how many times I hear friends and fellow investors grumble about their property management company taking a fat 10% cut of their monthly rent. That’s money out of your pocket. You don’t have to throw those dollars away when you can manage your properties yourself… and do it like a pro.

TurboTenant is THE landlord software to get your rentals seen everywhere for free—I’m talking Apartments.com, Redfin, and dozens more. You can screen leads with a click (yes, full background and credit checks), whip up a custom lease that covers every legal “i” and “t,” and then sit back while your rent payments get deposited like clockwork. Every. Single. Month. And here’s the kicker—all of this runs for less than your Netflix bill. I’m talking $150 a year.

TurboTenant will have your rental business looking like you hired a whole back office staff, minus the payroll. Whether you’ve got one door or twenty, this is how you scale, build your portfolio, and make that passive income while you’re sipping cocktails on the beach or out scouting your next deal.

This is landlord software built just for us. It lets us maximize our cash flow, find and screen tenants, schedule showings, create leases, fill out digital condition reports, track maintenance, and collect rent—all in one place. Join over 800,000 landlords who use TurboTenant to streamline their rental process from anywhere!

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Marriages Come and Go, But Rental Properties Last Forever

When I tell you the best decision I made during my divorce was fighting for my rental properties, I mean it. I went full mama bear. Forget the monogrammed china. Forget the fancy furniture. (Okay, we did fight over the Adirondack chairs, but that was on principle.) What I really wanted was the deeds. Because those properties weren’t just houses—they were guaranteed monthly income, steady appreciation, and my built-in retirement plan.

Here’s the truth: when you’re splitting assets, the number they put on a property is just a snapshot in time. That “appraised value” in the court documents doesn’t tell the full story. It doesn’t account for years of appreciation, steady cash flow, or the fact that every month someone else is paying down that mortgage for you.

Let me give you a real-life example. I refer you to my Reed Street property. I paid $150K and put $55K into renovations. I’m all in for $205K. That baby rents for $2,500 a month. After taxes and insurance, that’s about a 10% annual return. And if I sold it today? I’d get $400K. That’s $200,000 in appreciation plus all that rental income along the way. If I had let that property go in the divorce, I’d be kicking myself every time rent hit his bank account. Long ago, I did the math and I realized that this house will end up paying me about $3.5M in my lifetime.

I didn’t come into rentals early in my career. My first taste of property management was during the 2008 downturn, when people couldn’t sell their houses for what they owed. I started telling my clients: “Let’s list it for sale and for rent. Whichever happens first, you win.” For me, rental properties were a lifeline in a market where sales had stalled but rental demand was sky-high. Before I knew it, I was managing 30 properties that brought in anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 a month. (In 2016, I sold that side of my business entirely, but I kept my own investments.)

Plus, people don’t talk nearly enough about how providing excellent service during the rental process can turn into a sale. In Josh Flagg’s The Deal, he tells the story about how one measly rental ended up in over $16M in sales. Not too shabby!

Just the other week, I met with a seller who had a $550,000 home and a 2.75% interest rate. His monthly payment is about $1,800. That same home could have been rented for $3,500 a month. He decided to sell instead of rent, but I couldn’t stop thinking—if there were no rental restrictions in his neighborhood and he had the right tools to manage it from out of state, that could’ve been a pure cash flow machine. Sometimes people walk away from a winning lottery ticket because they don’t see the long game.

Now, I keep five properties of my own. Two are paid off. The other three have small mortgages on purpose, so I’ve always got cash on hand to grab the next great deal that comes along. That’s my investment strategy.

The advice I often share with my clients is not to get so caught up chasing their dream home right now. I tell them to buy the least expensive two-bedroom, two-bath we can find with no rental restrictions and live in it for two years. Then rent it out and buy their next place. Lather, rinse, repeat. By the time they’re 30—or 40 or 50—they can have enough cash flow and equity that their paycheck becomes optional.

Here’s the bottom line: the market will rise, the market will fall, but a well-bought rental property will keep paying you no matter what’s going on in the headlines. It’s your safety net, your wealth builder, and if you play your cards right, your ticket to retiring whenever the hell you want.

I’ve built my career selling houses, but my freedom and my sense of security comes from the five properties I refused to let go of. Best decision I ever made.

@glenndabaker

Should you pay for rental properties in cash? #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaRealEstate #realestatetiktok #Investing #RealEstateInvesting

GLENNDA’S GURU

Welcome Back, Carrie Powell

I could not be more pleased to bring y’all more of my conversation with organizer Carrie Powell of Method Seattle. Today, we’re going to cover the life-changing magic of decluttering because all that crap you’ve been clinging to? You do not need it. Living a clutter-free lifestyle and getting rid of those expensive storage units is entirely possible! So if y’all have been looking for permission to let it go… consider this your invitation!

Thanks so much again, Carrie!

GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

Put a Pin in This

Oh, my stars and stripes, 1164 Fairfield Drive in Marietta, GA, isn’t just a house; it’s a golden ticket!

In Indian Hills, where location is everything, this move-in-ready cutie has fresh paint, a newer roof and windows, and all the charm you could want right now. Those warm wood floors, light-filled kitchen, and brick fireplace family room are ready for you today—and that big ol’ level backyard? Perfect for entertaining or dreaming about the even larger custom build you might do down the road.

All this, under $800K, in Walton’s award-winning school district? That’s not just buying a home; it’s reserving your spot in one of East Cobb’s most desirable neighborhoods.