WELCOME 

Happy 4^th, Y’all!

First, Happy Birthday, America! You don’t look a minute over 229 years old.

Independence Day has got me thinking. Specifically, it has me thinking about the notion of what independence looks like, especially when it comes to real estate. There’s nothing more empowering for a woman than the ability to call her own shots, inside the home she bought and paid for all by herself.

What you might not know is that in 2023, single women made up 17% of all homebuyers. After couples, they are the second largest group of homebuyers! All the single ladies, all the single ladies… are outpacing men when it comes to single homeownership.

Here are the facts:

• Single women own about 10.7 million homes in the United States. As for single men? They own about 8.1 million homes. (Do not get me started about the ones who live with their mothers.)

• The average homeownership rate for single women is 56.2%. Is this slightly lower than the average homeownership rate for all adults, which is 65.5%? Yes, but not by much.

• Single women are more likely to own their homes outright than married women. About 40% of single women homeowners own their homes outright, compared to 30% of married women homeowners. Let that sink in for a hot minute. 

In the words of Miss Taylor Swift from the documentary Miss Americana, women should never have to say, “Sorry, was I loud… in my own house that I bought with the songs that I wrote… about my own life.”

So, agents, when you’re out there drumming up leads and creating your marketing material, you can’t go wrong if you remember ladies first.

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

If you’re a single woman and you’re tired of the fairy tale that some man is gonna scoop you up and buy you that dream house, then buckle up, buttercup, because I’m about to drop some truth:

You don’t need him.

You have the power to be your own Prince Charming. Create your own happily ever after by buying yourself a home. As a single woman, this is one of the surest ways to achieve financial security and build equity.

When is the time to do it? No time like the present. How do you do it? Well, here are some tips, and spoiler alert, the best way forward is with a real estate agent by your side.

How to Do It Herself, Real Estate Edition:

• Bring on an agent. Let us do the heavy lifting. A good real estate agent can help you find the right home for you and negotiate the best price, and we’re gonna know a hell of a lot more than Zillow. That’s a fact.

• Do your research! You wouldn’t buy a flat iron without looking it up, right? So before you put out a single penny, learn as much as you can about the home buying process. This includes understanding your finances, researching the housing market, and finding a good real estate agent. (It’s so important that I’m saying it twice.)

• If you sleep on it, you may not sleep in it. Be ready to decide when you find the place that’s right for you. Make the offer today because it may not be there tomorrow.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for the best deal. Regardless if you’re a single homebuyer, you have negotiating power. You have a voice, so use it to ask for a lower price or some seller concessions.

• Be safe. When you're touring homes, be aware of your surroundings and take precautions to stay safe. Bring a friend or family member with you, and of course, have your real estate agent with you.

• Lock that sh*t down. After you’ve purchased your home, it’s imperative you protect your assets. Now’s the time to buy life insurance, disability insurance, and homeowners insurance, because you never know (and you don’t want to find out).

Buying a home is a big decision, but it can be a great investment for single women, so give me a call and I can help.

Remember, a home is a way better investment than buying crypto, which has neatly placed a whole lot of men back in their moms’ basements. (Try to look surprised when all the percentages about single female ownership keep going up.)

SUGAR & SPICE REAL ESTATE ADVICE

Working Girl

Did I set out to be a single mom? I did not. Was it my intention to raise my children alone? Hell, no. But did I rise to the occasion? Yeah, baby, thanks to being a real estate agent.

@glenndabaker

How did I banance being a single mom? #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaRealEstate #RealEstateTickTock #SingleMom

ONCE UPON A TIME WITH GLENNDA

You Don’t Have to Be the Michael Jordan of Love

First: I am a sucker for love. I want the rakish man from the romance novel to sweep me up. I want moonlight and roses. I want the chocolates and the oysters and the champagne glass filled with club soda. None of that has changed.

Still, I have to tell you, I’m now old enough and wise enough to understand that life is what happens while you’re making other plans. I never expected to be divorced the first time. Or the second. And, oh my stars and stripes, definitely not the third.

That’s why my goal now is to empower women when it comes to real estate. I want to show them the ropes, giving them the confidence it takes to buy, sell, and invest in real estate. I don’t want anyone to ever feel the anxiety from being stuck financially, without a way to pay their own way. It’s one of the reasons my Diamond Squad is entirely female.

I once had a wonderful lady from Afghanistan tell me that after her husband left her, she looked to me as her inspiration and she turned to real estate as a way to support her five children. The impact of that just floors me.

Now, I have to tell you, I’m not just here for y’all, because so many of my fans have been there for me when I needed it most.

I started going through divorce number three in 2021, after I’d started making videos. I was lucky that my support system wasn’t just friends and family, it was the whole damn internet. I had owned my own company, and it was a real shock to my system when ownership of what I had built became an asset my ex wanted. I couldn’t believe it, and man, oh, man was it a fight to keep it. Here I thought I’d done everything right, having been a single mom who built up an empire all by herself.

I got through it, thanks to y’all… and a very fine attorney.

My divorce resulted in me leaving the home I had loved. I had to buy something else. In spring of 2021, I found myself driving through Atlanta Country Club, a place that I’d traversed a million times before. But this time was different, maybe because I was looking for my “what’s next.”

I drove by this home that my mother loved. She talked about it every time we passed it, saying, “Pumpkin, someday.” That day I felt her spirit inside me and do you know what I did? I wrote down that address and I made myself a promise that I was going to fully dictate my destiny from now on. And if that house ever came on the market, I’d make it mine.

Well, guess what happened? Within thirty days of my divorce being final, that house came on the market. I did not pass go, I did not collect $200, but I sure did make an offer on that place, because it felt like fate. Everything happens for a reason—even divorce—and I am so grateful that my mama raised me to be an independent woman, so that when the time came, I was able to buy that dream house all by myself.

As I told the reporter who interviewed me for Cobb Life, “This was my mom’s dream home. I look around this house, and there isn’t anything in here that doesn’t have my mom’s fingerprint on it. That was one thing about this house when I walked through the door. I just felt like she was with me.”

I’m still going to love the idea of love, and when it happens again, I’ll be ready. But he won’t need to sweep me off my feet, as I am well-suited to stand on them myself.

GLENNDAISM

This Applies to Everything