WELCOME

Oh, my stars and stripes, did I have the best time this last week! I had the honor and the privilege of sitting down with the women who’ve sold more than a collective $8B (yes, BILLION) in real estate, including Jade Mills, Rayni Williams, and Tracy Tutor. I am so excited to share the high points with y’all today, but if you have the time, I highly encourage watching the whole video, which is linked below.

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

*Spoiler alert: no real estate agent is celebrating.

I know that everyone has been prepping for this and we’re all trying to figure out our way forward. Per Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty on CNN, “This is a grand social experiment in an industry at scale. I’m bracing my agents for what I call the ‘messy middle.’ I fully expect a lot of confusion.”

According to NAR President Kevin Sears, who’s taking a more upbeat tone, “These changes help to further empower consumer with clarity and choice when buying and selling a home. I am confident in our members’ abilities to prepare for and embrace this evolution in of our industry and help to guide consumers in the new landscape.”

Here are the hard and fast rules we do know for sure: first, that we can no longer include agents’ compensation in the MLS, although we can certainly advertise and communicate it elsewhere. I am honestly looking forward to the kind of creativity this is going to spur. As we move forward, I’ll share the info I gather on what seems to be working best, because I never gate-keep what works well.

Second, we know that agents working with prospective buyers must have a written agreement before touring a property together, but this raises far more questions than it answers. Will this cut down on “real estate tourism” from qualified, but non-serious buyers? Will the open house suddenly take on new significance? Will agents quit over this? How will it impact our compensation? How will it impact our buyers and sellers? And how will Zillow’s touring agreement impact us all?

I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will say this: together, we’re always better, so let’s have each other’s backs.

@glenndabaker

Most buyers and sellers don’t factor in the agent to agent relationship when getting the deal done. #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaReal… See more

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Eight Billion Good Reasons

My head is just spinning around from being surrounded by such talented, powerful, and successful women at last week’s event, brought to you by Estate Media. I felt like I had to pinch myself that I was even on stage with these amazing ladies.

Both Jade Mills and Rayni Williams are agents with more than 30 years of experience each and Tracy Tutor has 23 years’ experience. (Obviously every one of them began their career at age fourteen, because look at them!)

I tried to take mental notes while we were talking, so I’m not 100% who said what because it was just blur of excitement and adrenaline, but here are the points that really stood out to me:

• Women make the best agents. Why? Because we have the ability to relate to other women, as well as men. But the wisest among us know that when you’re working with a couple, you work with that woman because she’s ultimately going to make the decisions. Also, you’re going to dress for that woman, so keep it tasteful. (There wasn’t consensus here, with the counterpoint that you should dress in whatever makes you feel most powerful.)

• Women are great agents because we bring that maternal instinct with us, but never forget that we can both negotiate and fight like men. I always say that if you want to talk about it getting done, talk to a man. But if you want to get it done, talk to a woman.

• Look around and figure out who you’d like to emulate—and then copy them! Adopt their best practices. Model yourself after them and whenever you can, find a way to get them to mentor you. The best way to do this is to triangulate—bring them in on your deal. Make yourself valuable to them and they will react in kind.

• Understand your audience. Never give your beauty pageant presentation to Mr. PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

• Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t get that listing. Instead, feel sorry for them for not having the presence of mind to have passed that ball to Michael Jordan. (Full disclosure, this is my own advice.)

• Don’t believe what you see on television about being a real estate agent. It takes more than an Instagram presence and a blurring filter to become a trusted advisor. The people who are trying to sell houses just for the “likes” aren’t going to get far in this business. You need true commitment to the craft.

• When you start complaining, people stop listening. (I LOVE this one!)

• Figure out what makes you bulletproof. For Jade, it’s absolutely loving what she does. For Tracy, it’s when people underestimate her. For Rayni, it’s using every moment to her benefit, which means she only consumes media/literature that will help her sell more houses.

• Send orchids as a thank you gift. If you get the listing, then you have flowers for the listing photos. If you don’t, then they live for four months and those people will be thinking about you every time they walk past them. (Ha!)

• The most successful day is always getting a deal from listed to closed—size doesn’t actually matter.

• Name recognition is crucial, so get yours out there always and often.

• Finally, what’s important is your buyers find the right house at the right price, regardless of the interest rate.

GLENNDA’S GURU

We Meet Again, Rayni Williams!

I am so pleased to get to go in depth with Rayni here! If you haven’t already seen the above Estate video, Rayni is the co-founder of Williams & Williams. Rayni and her partner, Branden, have a collective $15.8B in transactions under their belts. (OH, MY STARS AND STRIPES!!) So you’re 15.8 billion percent going to want to tune into our conversation!

Thanks a billion, Rayni!

GLENNDAISM

My Secret Weapon

GO HOMES.COM WITH GLENNDA

Deal of the Day!

This week, let’s check out my brand new listing in Smyrna, GA. This is one hot property because it’s coming on the market priced at $150K less than the most recent sale!

This brick beauty is crisp, clean, and move-in ready with all sorts of nice appointments, from a gorgeous open entryway to a cozy fireplace in the primary bedroom sitting area to a terrace level where the world is your oyster. Now, if you’re from out of state and you’ve never looked at our property tax rates, take a gander… and don’t be surprised if you’re inspired to relocate.