WELCOME

Hello! I hope everyone’s fall is progressing nicely and that we’re only around the corner from sweater and boot weather… and pumpkin spice everything. I have coats that are itching to be worn and scarves just waiting to be artfully draped, but I guess I’ll have to be a little more patient, as it’s still bathing suit weather down here in the ATL.

We have some fun topics to cover today, from whether a certain plaintiff was just a plain opportunist to what I would do for the housing market if y’all were to vote Glennda, so let’s jump on in!

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

Y’all are painfully aware of Josh Sitzer and his impact on the way we do business. Had Sitzer and his wife not decided to sell their Kansas City home in 2017, maybe we wouldn’t be here, because then they wouldn’t have been so frustrated by that 3% they’d have to pay a buyer’s agent.

Well, lucky for us, Sitzer decided to sit(zer) down with Tech Crunch to explain what happened and why. In the article, he says:

“Due to the anti-competitive structure of the industry before the lawsuit, I, as the seller, was effectively coerced into paying 3% of my home’s selling price to a buyer’s agent to achieve a successful sale. While hiring agents is a choice for many, I don’t believe anyone should be bullied into paying for undesired services due to unfair industry practices.”

“But, wait, Glennda,” you might say. “Why would Tech Crunch give a hoot about Josh Sitzer?”

Now, that is the $418M dollar question. Apparently having accidentally fallen into this enormous lawsuit versus the NAR, Sitzer just so happened to team up with a former strategist from Deloitte and a tech guru to found a platform called Landian (oh so cleverly combining “land” and “guardian”) which allows the consumer to pay a la carte for real estate services.

So, the person who’s benefitting most from the ruling is… Sitzer, who may well be using his 15 minutes to capitalize on everything. That is a real chicken-or-the-egg puzzler as to which came first, the idea of the suit or the idea of the company that could be formed in the wake of the suit. BTW, Inman reached out to Landian with a request for comment, and they have yet to hear back. Huh.

And to all of that I say, good luck to Landian in getting any agent to participate.

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Vote Glennda 2024

Last week on my Instagram, I posed the question of what y’all would do to aid in home sales if you were to be elected president.

Because I know exactly what I would as president. (This is not a stretch. I mean, our flag is already covered with stars, so it’s totally on brand for me.)

I would immediately concentrate on two things. First, I would make it far easier for military members/veterans, teachers, law enforcement members, firefighters, and first responders to buy homes. Here’s the thing—these people are on our country’s front line and they are not compensated accordingly. A lot of these folks rely on FHA/VA loans, so when they try to compete against traditional buyers with 20% down, they are highly disadvantaged because those programs are wrapped in so much red tape. They are losing out. I would like that to stop.

Why can’t we facilitate them with favorable rates? If you are on the front lines, you should be moved to the front of the line. And there’s already precedent for this! If you are a licensed doctor, you’re eligible for a physician mortgage. In these loans, they basically look past all the student loan debt and offer higher loan amounts because they’re betting that these doctors are going to earn a lot.

Folks with a military ID can board planes first, so why can’t we accommodate them in the home buying process? People with these jobs are easy to validate and vet, so why not make their loans more viable? If you are someone who keeps the public safe or educated, I want you to be compensated for that with your own piece of the American dream.

The other thing is, why are homeowners responsible for paying capital gains tax when they sell their primary residence? They have already paid the dang taxes on their place via property tax. And likely their property taxes have been raised yearly! This isn’t a random stock market investment where they got lucky, it’s literally their shelter. Why the double-dip?

Let’s say you’re a homeowner who’s looking to sell. You’ve kept up your property and since you’ve owned it, the value’s gone from $500,000 to $800,000. When you sell, you’re going to be taxed on that $300,000 appreciation. If we were to take that penalty away, that would unlock a whole market of people who’d suddenly be happy to list their homes, which would get in new buyers and sellers way faster than it would take to build 3,000,000 new homes, especially when it’s already so hard to get permits for new construction.

These are two easy ways to unstick the buying and selling process. But I would love to hear from y’all about what you would want to do to grease the wheels. Send me your ideas, or comment on last’s week’s post, because if anyone knows how to fix things, it’s us.

glenndabaker

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1895 Rising Glen(nda) Road

Take a Tour with Me!

Sometimes something is so spectacular that words will just not do; we have to see it to believe it. That is the case with the tour I took when I was in Los Angeles. I had the opportunity to preview a luxury home and it took me about .02 seconds to stop playing it cool and lose my damn mind, especially since it’s on a street that has my name all over it. I know y’all are going to be as blown away here as I was.

Thanks so much, Estate Media, James Harris, and David Parnes!

GLENNDAISM

I Mean It

GO HOMES.COM WITH GLENNDA

All I Do Is Win

Well, I seem to keep selling all my new listings, so I don’t have a new property to feature this week. So let’s talk about how Homes.com is helping me facilitate those wins.

I am such a fan of how they show everyone who clicks on my landing page exactly who I am, what I represent, and what I’ve sold. I don’t need to sell anyone on what I can do, because the supporting data is right there on the page. And when a buyer or seller decides they want to work with me, all they have to do is click to reach me. It’s just that simple. And as always, with Homes.com, it’s your listing, your lead