THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

WELCOME

Do y’all realize that there are people out there who do not care about or believe in celebrating their birthday? Well, I am not one of those people. I love everything about my birthday, which I happen to share with one Ms. Taylor Swift. I was never one to fret about my day being so close to Christmas, either. My mother and I also celebrated the 12 Days of Christmas, which conveniently began on the day after my birthday. (Also, when y’all read this, I will be three days into celebrating my birthday week.)

We are living in uncertain times right now, so that is why when we’re given the chance to celebrate something—anything!—we must do so. While we can’t change the future, we can certainly enjoy the present. Give being merry a try; I suspect you will not regret it.

As my special birthday newsletter, today I’m going to cover the three most pivotal moments of my professional life, so let’s blow out the 29 candles on my cake and get to it!

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

Spoiler Alert: The Answer Is Always Yes

I swear, someone asks me this question every day: “Is now a good time to buy a house?”

Of course, my answer is always yes because I am a glass-half-full kind of gal. People buy and sell for one of five reasons: diamonds, diapers, divorce, debt, and death. These occur 365 days a year, so in my book, there’s always someone buying and someone selling, so every time is the right time in my opinion.

The good news is, those interviewed for Housing Wire happen to agree with me that now is a good time. For example, according to Patricia Maguire-Feltch, Director of Consumer Origination Sales at Chase Home Lending, “Even though the mortgage-rate environment has been volatile the past few weeks, we are seeing more optimism around the mortgage market, especially in isolated incidents like when the Fed announced a rate cut. If we see any additional cuts throughout the next year, they are likely to be slow and gradual. The economy is doing well, and a strong economy is great for housing recovery and stability.”

Since it’s my birthday and I am in charge of the wishes this week, my wish for y’all is to go into the rest of this season with the confidence that now is the time and you are the agent who can get it done.

@glenndabaker

When is the best time to buy a house #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaRealEstate #RealEstateMarket #GoogleGlennda #GlenndaTok

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

The Three Transactions That Changed My Life

Birthdays are a time for reflection, so I want to do a little looking back at the transactions that changed my life and shaped me into the agent I am today.

My first transaction was obviously a big one, but not for the reasons y’all might expect. When I first started in real estate, I talked to everyone I knew, saying I could help them buy or sell a home. I ended up with five listings. One of them was Ismael, my husband’s cousin who was selling his condo because he was dying. He’d signed the power of attorney over to his partner because he wanted to make sure that Albert was taken care of.

We made a deal in early November and by 11/12, Ismael had sadly passed. We were scheduled to close on 12/6. At this point, since I was so new, it never occurred to me that I should tell anyone he’d passed, because I’d secured power of attorney. And I knew that Albert would sign off and he’d get the proceeds, which is what Ismael wanted.

A few days before the closing, the closing attorney called and asked me, “Will the seller be at the closing?” I told her no. A few minutes later, she called me back and asked, “Glennda… is the seller dead?”

I replied, “Yes, but it’s no problem because I have the power of attorney.”

She got really quiet for a second and then she said, “Glennda, the power of attorney dies with him. Please tell me he doesn’t have any heirs.” Well, he did—he had parents, four sisters, and a brother. But luckily for his partner, that attorney got the whole family to sign off and she was able to push it through probate and we closed on time. She moved heaven and earth to honor Ismael’s final wish.

Now I’m always saying, “Fake it ‘til you make it,” but in this case, that was the wrong call. I thought if I didn’t tell anyone he’d passed, then I somehow wouldn’t have to deal with it, like when I was broke and didn’t open my electric bill because I knew I couldn’t pay it. But here I learned that I had to face it ‘til I made it. I learned that if I had a problem, I had to handle it and couldn’t expect it would work itself out. I also learned that who I aligned myself with would be critical to my success. If that closing attorney hadn’t been such a badass, things may have gone quite differently for me and especially for Albert, who was already dealing with so much.

The second transaction is when I sold the wrong house. We’d seen two houses on West Paces Ferry—one was less than an acre and one was over two acres, both listed by Buckhead Brokers. So when my buyer said he wanted the Buckhead Brokers West Paces Ferry home, it never occurred to me that he’d want the one that was more money for less acreage.

All of the safety measures that would normally have been in place were not—he was paying cash, he’d waived inspection, he was tearing down the home so there was no walk-through. I didn’t realize exactly how wrong I’d gotten it until we were driving to the house after the closing. I cannot tell y’all how much my mind was racing when I had to make that U-turn to get to the right house. Would I lose my license? Would I be sent to real estate jail? Would my insurance cover this? My hands were so sweaty, I could barely grip the wheel and I could feel all the blood rushing from my face. I’m pretty sure I’d stopped breathing.

When we pulled up to the house my buyer didn’t realize he was getting, I launched into Vanna White mode, announcing why this was the better house and how come this was the much better deal—and it’s all true because it was. My client was too much in shock about the whole thing to even be mad. He just sat there on the ledge with his head in his hands, saying, “Did you sell me the wrong house?”

Well, yes, but mostly no—for his purposes, this was the right house and I spun my tail off as to the whys. By the time I’d driven him back to his office, he was on board. He realized I’d gotten him the better property at the better price and to this day, I can’t believe how I’d had it in me to work to save this situation from ending my career. (Lest I sound glib, as soon as I’d dropped him off, I had to pull over to throw up.)

What’s ironic is that I have sold him many more houses since then, and we have the running joke about whether or not it’s the right place. It’s funny… now.

The last sale that changed my life was the $5M estate I sold on Papermill. This opportunity came up in 2017 and I’d not sold a home at the price since the late 1990s. On top of that, I lived in a normal home in East Cobb, and not an estate in Atlanta Country Club, plus it was a celebrity home and I was going up against every top broker in the area. Oh my stars and stripes, I was so nervous, but I channeled that energy into my prep.

I first met with the husband who told me he thought his home was worth $8M. Honestly, I didn’t see it. The data didn’t support it, and just telling him what he wanted to hear was to no one’s benefit. I created a spreadsheet with all 118 homes in the neighborhood with every piece of data I could find, from what they paid for it, to what they did for a living, to how they’d financed it. I pulled in every other sale in the county, where the highest sale had been $3.5M and I got that from tax records, not the MLS. And then I had a very serious conversation about price.

When I went back in for the second interview, I didn’t know I already had won the listing. But that’s not where the story ends. I didn’t get it sold, even though I tried for a year, so they ended up taking it off the market. And in that time, I changed brokerages. I stayed on the homeowners’ radar and I brought them the opportunity for a TV show to be filmed there. (It was the Dynasty reboot.)

Around this time, they relisted it—with me. They said they’d believed in me from the start. Another show was filmed in their home, this time with Peyton Manning and Joe Namath. A pro athlete saw the show and fell in love with the home, so I brought him there and we got it sold. And then my sellers used my people to move and they used me to help them find a rental. They trusted me at every step of the way.

This transaction reinforced such a feeling of confidence, knowing I’d earned the faith that they’d placed in me, and continue to place in me as they keep sending referral business. 

Now, two of these three stories are about mistakes. So I want to express to y’all how mistakes aren’t fatal. Instead, they are learning opportunities. And if I hadn’t messed up so many times over the course of my career, I’d never have had the confidence to step up to the big leagues when given the chance.

And considering how much I’ve already learned, imagine what I’ll discover when I finally hit my 30s…

glenndabaker

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REAL ELITE

Be One of the Estate Elite!

Have you checked out the Estate Elite yet? We are five of the nation’s top luxury agents here to personally help you excel. And I do mean personally, including live face-to-face time. So if you’ve wanted to do more but don’t know how, this is your how!

Josh Flagg, Tracy Tutor, James Harris, David Parnes, and I will take you step-by-step on leveling up by offering:

• Real-time access to experts eight live Q & As a month with the biggest names in the business, including Josh Flagg, Tracy Tutor, and myself, starting with the very hot topic of Justifying Your Commission and Your Value in the Changing Regulatory Landscape

• Digital community access to network and collaborate with industry peers

•  Exclusive face-to-face time with industry leaders at invite-only Masterminds in Beverly Hills (oh, my stars and stripes, I can’t wait!!)

• 12 hours of market-proven courses from Josh Flagg, David Parnes, and James Harris, which alone is a $1650 value

• Tailored tech solutions with back-office tools and expert guidance to empower your business and growth

If y’all ever wondered, How would a real estate legend handle my dilemma? Then stop wondering and start asking! Estate Elite membership grants you that access. Remember, I have been in your shoes and I understand your struggles. So if you’re looking for the content, the community, and the access required to thrive in 2025, then join us at Estate Elite!

And if you sign up this morning, you’ll be just in time for my 12:00 PM PT session on Knowing Your Worth and Presenting Your Value to Potential Clients!

GLENNDA’S GURUS

Welcome,

Y’all, I am so pleased to have had the chance to sit down with not just one but TWO gurus this week! I’m talking to Ericca Woodruff and Steve Games from Coldwell Banker! If y’all want to learn from the experts with years and years of being the best in the business, tune it!

Thank you, Ericca and Steve!

GLENNDAISM

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