WELCOME

If you think the mansion tax is bad, don’t move to Spain. 

Spain is taking a dramatic step to combat its housing crisis: a proposed 100% tax on homes purchased by non-EU residents. The plan aims to curb foreign speculation and ease housing shortages, which have driven up prices and rents, particularly in tourist-heavy areas. While the details are still vague, the proposal has already ignited fierce debate over its potential impact on the economy and local housing markets.

Turns out, the grass isn’t always greener—especially along the Spanish coastline. 

SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS: Today’s Top Podcast Rec 🔊

If there’s one thing Dawn McKenna knows (and as Glennda learns, there are many), it’s how to live in your lane of genius. As the leader of the No. 1 team in the Midwest and the No. 3 team nationwide for Coldwell Banker, with over $5.1B in sales to date, Dawn does it all—and doesn’t even own a computer. In this eye-opening interview, Dawn shares her experience hiring with leadership in mind, scaling a team across multiple states, determining the highest and best use of your time, and so much more. Watch now—and start putting smart people in the right places. 

TRACK THE MARKET: Mortgage Lenders Face a Growing Hurdle

It’s easy to assume housing market trends only impact buyers, sellers, agents, and builders. But there’s another, often overlooked, real estate professional fighting to adapt to changing needs: Mortgage lenders.

In 2025, the biggest challenge mortgage lenders expect to face is declining affordability. Over the past several months, surging home prices have outpaced income growth, shrinking the pool of qualified buyers and slowing activity at lending institutions. That, paired with rising homeowners’ insurance premiums and inconsistent mortgage rates, is forcing lenders to rethink how they qualify buyers and structure loan programs.

According to a recent report, 41% of lenders rank the lack of qualified buyers—driven by low affordability rates—as their top concern for 2025. Here’s why:

• Housing prices rose 21.6% from 2021 to 2024, far exceeding household income growth and pricing many buyers out of the market.

• Rising insurance premiums now require lenders to obtain accurate quotes upfront, complicating pre-qualification and making it harder for buyers to meet debt-to-income ratio requirements.

• While occasional mortgage rate dips have briefly improved affordability, they’ve failed to maintain downward momentum, leaving both lenders and buyers in a state of affordability uncertainty.

To overcome the affordability challenge, some lenders are embracing creative alternatives, like expanded credit criteria, revamped loan programs, and additional income considerations to help more buyers qualify. For agents, keeping up with these new loan options can be the difference between losing a deal and helping your client get a foot in the door. 

DIVE IN

The Friday Five

📖 Live like Mike. See inside Michael Jordan’s 32,000sqft totally customized mansion at Champion’s Point. 

👀 Building a following. Why social media outreach is a slow-burn strategy worth the effort. 

👀 Fighting for fire victims. What LA authorities are doing to stop scams and price gouging as rebuilding begins. 

💡Trading up. Finding the balance between time and money.

💡Rentals done right. Glennda’s genius investment in her clients’ comfort.

Get a Sneak Peek at Estate Elite

With live weekly events, actionable tools, hours of masterminds, and insider strategies—delivered by five top real estate agents in the luxury market—there’s no real estate membership community quite like Estate Elite. 

Best of all, we’re giving every Real Estate Roundup reader free access to Estate Elite for 14 days. 

With two weeks of unlimited access to our fast-growing community, you’ll have the opportunity to attend:

• Four live Q&A sessions (including Building Multiple Streams of Communication and Revenue with Tracy Tutor, and Mastering the Podcast Space with James Harris and David Parnes next week!)

• Hours of mastermind sessions on every real estate topic and pain point

• Multiple networking opportunities across several discussion boards

• and more

If you’ve been curious about Estate Elite, don’t wait another week to join our community. Tap to activate your free trial now and start turning your ambition into real, visible results.

WHAT’S NEW FROM ESTATE MEDIA

Feeling a little lost in all the presidential plans and policies making headlines this week? We’ve covered the biggest executive orders set to impact the housing market in this post, including:

• An order to reduce housing costs by cutting down the regulatory barriers that contribute to high home prices, restoring purchasing power to families struggling to afford to buy. 

• A regulatory freeze and government hiring halt to reduce interference in the housing market. 

• Two housing appointments that signal a market-driven shift in housing policy.

Scroll the full post for more details on each executive move—and how they may affect you.

FEATURED LUXURY LISTING

TIPS & TAKEAWAYS

Speaking of Dawn McKenna…

A huge congratulations on the sale of one of America’s most iconic homes for a cool $5.5M. The Dawn McKenna Group represented the seller of the Home Alone House in Northfield, IL—and we can’t get enough of this brilliant deal announcement video.

HANGS & HAPPENINGS

RETCon | Las Vegas, NV | March 10-12, 2025. RETCon is a must-attend event for real estate technology and innovation professionals. The conference focuses on PropTech and RealTech solutions, trends, automation tools, AI advances, and more, and gives agents and industry pros a place to learn, network, and stay competitive.

REALTOR Broker Summit | Louisville, KY | April 8-9. Get leadership and marketing insights tailored to brokers, real estate leaders, and teams ready to refine their strategies and jump ahead of the competition. Register for two days packed with workshops, presentations, meet-and-greets, and more.

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