Take it from Glennda Baker—cars lose their value and clothes stop fitting. But real estate? That’s an investment that will pay off for decades to come. 

When Glennda cashed her first $137,000 commission check from selling a huge home early in her career, she could have scooped up the foreclosed townhouse in a prime location down the street. But one new car and several shopping sprees later, that money was long gone. Fast forward to today—the townhome is worth $1M, but the car and clothes are nothing but a memory. Her candid lesson is simple. Where you sink your money matters because not every purchase is an investment. 

Catch Glennda’s cautionary tale here, then hit reply and tell us: What’s the wildest thing you bought with a commission check?

SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS

TRACK THE TRENDS

MARKETS

Doubling down on growth

According to the latest NAR data, Q1 was a hot one for home prices across the country. Despite mortgage rates hitting highs not seen in two decades, home prices increased in over 90% of metro areas—and 30% saw double-digit growth.

Between the shortage of available homes and the growing pool of eager buyers, these 10 metros saw the highest price growth year-over-year:

1. Fond du Lac, Wis. (23.7%)

2. Kankakee, Ill. (22.0%)

3. Rockford, Ill. (20.1%)

4. Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (20.0%)

5. Johnson City, Tenn. (19.3%)

6. Racine, Wis. (19.0%)

7. Newark, N.J.-Pa. (18.8%)

8. Bloomington, Ill. (18.5%)

9. New York-Jersey City-White Plains, N.Y.-N.J. (18.4%)

10. Cumberland, Md.-W.Va. (18.2%)

REC ROUNDUP

The Friday Five

📖 Zillow’s Touring Agreement. Read Glennda’s hot take on Zillow's new 7-day touring agreement. 

👀 $57M mansion. How Tracy Tutor’s biggest sale pushes her to keep building bigger. 

👀 The ‘real’ Josh Flagg. Can celebrity impersonator Matt Friend do a better ‘Josh’ than Josh himself?

💡Affordability analysis. These four states and six metros offer the best bang for your buck.

💡LA exodus. Why 32,000 homeowners moved out of LA in Q1.

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