WHO’S READY TO GET HIGH WITH GLENNDA?
Welcome to My/Your/Our Second Newsletter!
Greetings from the second edition of the Glennda Gazette! We are off to the races here and I’m thrilled to have y’all with me. Remember, whether you’re a buyer, seller, investor, real estate agent, or just a stray Glenndaratti, this newsletter is for you. Please, drop me a line and let me know what you love or what else you’d like to see!
Now, because 4/20 was last week, today we’re chatting about the high life… meaning buying and selling big-ass homes, of course. Let’s dive into the luxury market together.
Wait, what did you think I meant?
THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE
All the News That Fits, I Print
I am never one to focus on the negative. However, I am also realistic and I won’t sugar-coat what’s true. The fact is that luxury home sales are down significantly, in most markets… especially in places like Miami and the Hamptons. Between inflation rates, recession fears, and low inventory levels, the market has definitely dipped. The luxury market has been particularly impacted because wealthy buyers frequently have their assets tied up in the stock market, which has been its own kind of rollercoaster this year. Do not even start me on the insanity that is the crypto market, thanks in part to FTX’s bankruptcy, followed by the recent Silvergate Capital meltdown. (The silver lining is, you can probably pick up a former crypto whale’s Lambo on the cheap.)
The luxury home buying market isn’t what it was over the past few years when the pandemic forced everyone to work and learn from home. I swear, my phone would not stop ringing with buyers who were desperate to buy a bigger, better home, and please, baby Jesus, let there be a swimming pool and an office door that shuts. Heck, they’d even forgo the pool if there was a quiet place they could take a call without hearing their kids hollering for five minutes. Who knew that when we saw that video with Professor Kelly a couple of years earlier, he was giving us a glance into our collective future? If your loved ones/pets didn’t embarrass you at least once on a pandemic Zoom call, you must have been living alone.
Fortunately, the supply of luxury homes is slightly rising and we’re up from the record low inventories of 2022. And since inventory is still tight, that’s going to help buoy prices. The small uptick in mortgage applications is a positive sign. Those luxury buyers who left the city for the suburbs during Covid are starting to migrate back to more urban areas, which is exciting. And now that travel restrictions have been lifted overseas (plus the weakened Euro), we’re going to see an influx of international buyers, so maybe brush off your Berlitz and learn to say ni hao.
The luxury market is making tentative steps back and that is the kind of good news we can all use. Be sure to follow me on TikTok for all the best practices on landing and selling that big-ass listing!
SUGAR & SPICE REAL ESTATE ADVICE
Like Everything, It All Comes Down to Location
If you’re like me, sometimes you need to hear the advice for it to really take hold.
So, in today’s Sugar & Spice advice, I’m going to talk about what you need to bring to the luxury market as an agent. And remember, if you want to work the high end market, you must put yourself in areas where luxury buyers are, like charity events, sporting events, club seats, the country club, or high-end restaurants. You don’t have to be rich—you just have to be there.
ONCE UPON A TIME WITH GLENNDA
The Best News Is, I Haven’t Aged a Bit!
Do you want to sell high-end real estate but you’re afraid you lack credibility? Then today’s story time is for you!
So many people are under the impression that you must live in a big-ass house to sell one. No, ma’am, that is not true and I am living proof.
I didn’t even start out to be a real estate agent. Before I began my career selling homes, I was designing and manufacturing ladies’ clothing here in Atlanta. I did pretty well, showing my lines in five major markets around the country and selling to major department stores. (Remember, my name is Glennda Baker and I only have amazing days.) But still, I hated that business so it wasn’t sustainable. My mom was in the home furnishing business and did staging. I’d help her on occasion. So, one time we did a presentation at a real estate office and the broker there said, “If you ever think about getting into real estate, give me a call.” But I wasn’t sure I wanted to sell real estate—I figured I’d get carsick with all the driving around.
My mom insisted I’d be good, so I took the class and got my license. I tried to get a job as a broker’s assistant to get a foothold in the industry. The problem was, even though people loved me, no one wanted to hire me because they didn’t think I’d be an assistant for too long. (They weren’t wrong, but still.)
Back then, I started reading this book about how to develop a six-figure income in real estate, which sounded pretty good because I was living in rental with my baby Victoria. The book suggested I go to everyone I know to ask them if they wanted to buy or sell a house, so that is exactly what I did.
Guess what? I got five listings! Not luxury properties, but definitely a start.
Then I went back to one of the brokers who loved me and I said, “Hey, I’ve got five listings. I’ve taken my test, but I don’t have anywhere to put my license. Nobody will hire me.” She was like, “Whoa, hold up—you have five listings?” I explained to her that I just did what the book told me. Wouldn’t you know it, she hired me right on the spot.
Victoria and me, back in the early days
It’s 1992 and my baby is like eleven months old. The book says the key to breaking into the luxury market is to create a “farm.” I knew I did not want a farm of $560 apartments, that was for damn sure. So, on a Sunday afternoon, I got in my car and drove around to find the fanciest neighborhoods in the vicinity of my apartment.
I looked around at these big-ass houses with their rolling lawns, en suites, and sparkling blue swimming pools and I thought, “Okay, this is going to be my farm.” Now, remember, 1992 was the olden days, so I didn’t have the tech we have today. I mean, only doctors and stockbrokers had car phones. I had to take a picture of every single house, and then I’d write down the address and picture number, like, “This is 123 Banana Street,” with the picture number, then, “this is 125 Banana Street,” and so on. I’m talking old school arts and crafts here with pens and paper and scissors.
After I organized my photos and addresses, I pulled all of the tax records. (No, I didn’t think about becoming a spy, but I bet I’d have been great at it.) Every night at seven o'clock, like clockwork, I’d load my baby into the car and drive to the fancy neighborhood’s clubhouse. I’d get the stroller out of the car and then I’d stroll my baby. I’d wave at all of the neighbors so they’d come to recognize me. Then I started sending a newsletter that had my face on it.
I made it seem like that luxury neighborhood was my neighborhood.
Finally, this man called. He said, “Hey, I see you in the neighborhood all the time strolling your baby, and we want to sell our house.” And I'm like, “Awesome!” My plan to lure him into my gingerbread house had worked! He said, “I live at 123 Banana Street,” which I totally knew because I had made a book of every single house, including everything from the tax to the sales records. This was some CIA-level recon, I’m telling you.
I said to him, “Oh my gosh, Mr. Jones, I love your house!” He said, “Wait, you know my name and house?” I said, “I know it exactly. You have the brown house with the four windows on the front and the circular driveway.” And like that, bam! I’d established myself as an expert in his mind. In that moment, it did not matter that I lived in a crappy rental with chipped Formica and harvest gold appliances and the perpetual smell of someone else’s cooked dinner in the hallways because I’d built that credibility. I knew his house. I knew his neighborhood. I knew where the bodies were buried. I didn’t need to have a roster of big-ass homes and I didn’t need to be born with a silver spoon in my mouth. All I had to do was compile and learn the data which happened while I was out, strolling the neighborhood with my baby.
That is how I broke into the luxury market. I didn’t go to galas or fancy parties and it was years before I could join a country club myself. Instead, I muscled my way onto the scene by putting in the leg work (literally) and proving myself to be the most knowledgeable.
And you can, too.
I never did get carsick, either.
REAL TALK
Real Answers for Real Life
Listen, maybe you don’t have time to comb through all my TikToks on selling the luxury market. That’s why I would be delighted to answer your questions here! Be sure to send me a question on whatever’s vexing you in the real estate realm or beyond!
Today’s question comes from an agent in Oxford, Alabama.
I want to know what you do when you’re feeling low, in a funk, overwhelmed with it all—life, real estate, love, children. How do you get out of that funk? What steps do you take? What do you tell yourself? And you’re Glennda, so do you even get down and out like the rest of us?”
Lacy, please know that what you’re asking happens to everyone, even me. When you start feeling these big feelings, you have to acknowledge that you’re whacked out and you must get into a space to move past it.
For me, I get introspective on what took me to the place where I don’t want to be, and why I’m feeling despair. Because I believe words can change your world view, I seek to identify and crush those negative feelings with my two mantras.
First, I tell myself, “My name is Glennda Baker and only amazing things happen to me!” I also say, “My name is Glennda Baker and I am a woman of action!” I repeat these mantras until I am completely and totally in a different mind space. Try it, and I think you’ll be surprised at how powerful positive self-talk can be.
Thank you, Lacy!
GLENNDA’S GURUS
Learn from the Pros!
Oh my stars & stripes, I’m beyond excited to introduce today’s real estate guru, who just so happens to be one of my nearest and dearest. Today, Mr. Tyler Whitman will be sharing his very best advice with us!
You probably know Tyler from his starring on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing New York. Or maybe you know him as my co-host (and dear friend) on our hit real estate/mindset podcast, Glitter and Gay. Tyler is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of experience helping people find homes in NYC. Tyler has not only worked as an agent, but he was Triplemint’s original Head of Sales. He joined The Agency because he holds the same mission, that of greatly improving the real estate experience. He’s been a part of the company’s leadership team for several years and he’s trained and coached agents through thousands of rentals and sales. His group, The Whitman Team, is one of the most talented and dynamic teams in all of NYC and the Hamptons, known for their analytical skills, generosity, and ability to make real estate a fun experience!
Believe me, Tyler is the genuine article and I could not be more tickled for him to be here!
GLENNDAISM
Quotable Quotes
Home ownership is a driver not only to wealth
but to pride.”
Of all the luxury homes I have sold… I left a piece of my heart in this one at 4340 Paper Mill Rd.
In fact, I sold it twice in fifteen months.
