WELCOME 

Happy Wednesday, everyone! There’s an awful lot going on, isn’t there? As anyone who’s been part of the conversation about what’s happening in real estate right now, it’s clear that we’re in crisis mode. 

But what do we do about it? That is the topic of today’s newsletter.

A good shortcut to consider when y’all find yourselves in the eye of the storm is to remember the buffalo and the cow. When a storm is on the horizon, cows instinctively move away from it. Sounds like a good idea, right? Wrong. The cows move too slowly, so the storm overtakes them—they’re perpetually getting caught in it. The buffalo, on the other hand, they run toward the storm, facing it head on. What ends up happening is by confronting the storm, the buffalo suffers a lot less of it because it’s over far more quickly. So that’s our message today.

Now let’s take the bull by the horns and get into it!

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

I’m Not Saying, “I Told You So,” But…

I just read an interesting article about what we could see happening going forward post-NAR ruling, and oh, my stars, I don’t like it. Here’s the article’s quote from macroeconomics analyst Amy Nixon that particularly bothered me:

"The biggest implication of this judgment is it is moving us towards what I’ve always considered the ‘Amazonification’ of U.S. residential housing. We’re going to make transaction costs lower, but what that does is make it easier for people to buy at scale. And guess who buys at scale? Not families, investors and institutions.”

The last thing the housing market needs is for it to be even easier for hedge funds to buy up single-family homes. So, like everyone, I’ll be keeping a keen eye on what happens with the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act. If this bill were to pass, it would put half a million single-family homes back onto the marketplace, so if you’re not normally one to call your congressperson, this is a good time to start.

@glenndabaker

What is really creating the chaos in the real estate market? I’ll tell you! #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaRealEstate #HousingMarket #R… See more

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Paperwork: Death by 1,000 Cuts

If y’all were to ask me about the biggest crisis I ever faced as a real estate agent, you might think I’d share the story about the time I sold the wrong house.

Well, today’s story is worse.

I had listed a $3,000,000 house and I had diligently done my job on it. I created the marketing campaign, I targeted the buyers, I ran the open houses—that home sold because of my efforts. The one thing I did not do—and this is on me—is verify that the listing expiration date in the MLS and on the listing agreement were the same. Somehow the dates on the listing agreement got conflated and I sold the house after the listing agreement had expired.

Did I realize the listing had expired? Of course not! I was going off the MLS date, which was the correct date. Now, in the state of Georgia, there’s a thirty-day period of protection if the house sells after the listing expires, but it’s only activated if the seller initials a little box.

I do not need to tell you that my seller had never initialed that little box.

But here’s the thing—the listings were by appointment only. The seller knew I was marketing and showing her house, so she was well aware that I was working my hardest to get her home sold.

Now, this was an honest mistake and no part of this error impacted the seller in any way. We were about 45 days into the extended 90 day closing period when the error came to light. The moment I realized, I called my seller and explained about the glitch, not imagining it to be a big deal, because, again, it in no way impacted the deal and it wasn’t caused by anything I had done myself.

To say that seller was mad would be an understatement. First, she shouted me up and down, and then she decided she wasn’t going to pay me that commission, despite the fact that it was me who’d actively sold that house. Further, she refused to discuss this with me. Then she decided she wouldn’t speak to me at all anymore, she’d only talk to my broker.

At the time, that $90K commission was a good chunk of my year. The total commission on the sale was $180K and she wanted to see if she could make sure the buyer’s agent was the one to receive it all, again, even though I’d done nothing to hurt her or the full-ask sale that I had negotiated.

Three days before close, she sent me a scathing email, insulting everyone from me to my mother to my neighbor’s dog. Ultimately, she said she’d give me my commission but she would not give me a recommendation.

I was so upset with myself after this because in retrospect, I see where I went wrong. When I had that initial phone call with her, I wanted to get out of the metaphorical rain as soon as possible, so I didn’t go into the level of detail that I should have. Even though she wasn’t impacted and in no way was her sale threatened, I’m not sure I made that clear. I also should have accepted full responsibility for the error, even though I wasn’t the one who filled out the paperwork. Ultimately the buck stops with me. Finally, I should have been cross-referencing those dates again and again to make sure this never happened in the first place.

Instead of running from the rain, I should have run toward it harder. In the end, I was still able to have gotten her what she wanted and I helped her move to the next stage of her life. My hope is when she reflects on this, she can do so with the kindness of retrospect. I know this, though—if I had sold this woman the wrong house, I would not be selling real estate today; she’d have made sure of that.

So if y’all take anything from this story, it’s that when something goes wrong, the faster you get to the solution, the quicker you’ll get yourselves out of the storm.

GLENNDA’S GURU

The Most Influential Real Estate Agent

I am super excited to be talking to an old friend today. She’s someone I met on Clubhouse at the beginning of the pandemic as we agents were all trying to figure out our next steps back when everything was in chaos the last time. I just loved her because she was a voice of reason. And obviously, she came up with a plan because she’s since been named the most influential real estate agent in Las Vegas! That’s right, my Glennda’s Guru guest today is Cami Lincowski!

If you’re going to be influenced, make sure it’s by someone as competent as Cami!

GLENNDAISM

Where the Buffalo Roam

GO HOME WITH GLENNDA

Invest in Yourself

Today we’re looking at my listing at 3790 Crestland Lane. There’s so much to love about this place, from the luxury finishes to the A-rated school district to the sun-drenched rooms. But what’s most significant about this property is how it appreciated from $550,000 to $950,000 in a few short years!

Okay, fine, maybe your NVDA stock has doubled but you can’t live in it, it’s not a secured investment, and there’s no clubhouse access. (And just try swimming in your portfolio when it’s 100 degrees outside.) Much like going to Paris, investing in real estate is always a good idea.