Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Real Estate Agent Glennda Baker on Finding Deals in This Market, Why Divorce Can Leave You “House Poor,” and the $47 Trillion Reason You Can't Buy a Home Right Now

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Glennda Baker has been a real estate broker for decades, built a massive social media following teaching everyday people how to buy and sell smart, and learned some of the biggest money lessons the hard way…  including a divorce where her ex looked her in the face and called her a "cash cow." Today, she joins Nicole to share what she knows about protecting your wealth, winning in today's housing market, and building real estate into generational wealth. Glennda gets raw about her own financial trauma: the manipulation she didn't see coming in her marriage, the moment she was evicted to a vacant rental with her son and hit rock bottom, and why she will never get married again. She explains exactly how divorce hits women differently than men, including a hidden math problem most people miss when splitting a house at today's interest rates. Then Nicole and Glennda get into the real estate playbook.  They fact-check the viral real estate advice flooding your feed, from writing letters to homeowners to get off-market deals, to using a HELOC for a down payment, to buying property through individual LLCs. Glennda also makes her case for why buying a house for your kid beats a 529, why private equity is keeping Bobby and Susie off the property ladder, and the one negotiation move every buyer should make at closing. Check out Nicole's financial literacy course The Money School Find a Financial Advisor or Financial Coach from Nicole's company Private Wealth Collective Watch video clips from the pod on Money Rehab's Instagram and Nicole Lapin's Instagram Follow Glennda on TikTok and Instagram Here's what Nicole covers with Glennda: 00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab? 01:21 Glennda's Origin Story 03:33 Should You Put Your Spouse's Name on Your House? 06:22 Prenups, Postnups, and Why Everyone Already Has One 07:03 Why Glennda Will Never Get Married Again 08:11 How Divorce Hits Women Differently 09:29 The Hidden Math Problem When Splitting a House 11:43 Glennda’s Money Trauma 17:09 Buying a House Together: What Needs to Be in Writing 20:19 Trusts vs. Putting the House in Your Kid's Name 24:30 Why Glennda Would Rather Buy a House Than Fund a 529 26:35 Real Estate vs. the Stock Market 28:09 Glennda and Nicole Play TikTok Trend or Truth? 38:13 The $47 Trillion Boomer Equity Problem 40:02 The Starter Home Myth 42:00 What Budget Do You Actually Need? 48:52 How Private Equity Is Locking Out Everyday Buyers 52:43 A Hard Look at Affordability 55:00 The 7 Ds of Real Estate 59:33 Closing Cost Strategy 01:03:03 Glennda Baker's Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions or investments.

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My guest today is one of the most iconic voices in real estate, the one, the only, Glenda Baker. Glenda is a real estate broker with three decades of experience and is not afraid to tell you like it is. Today she explains exactly who should be buying a house in this market. Especially in today's world, you have a child. If you don't go buy a house today for your child, the likelihood that your child will be able to afford a house when they're ready to buy is probably going to be slim to none. Which real estate trends sound too good to be true, but actually aren't. People do not realize, like, if you give a compelling story to the owner, you never know where they are and how to protect your wealth. I have a client and her husband goes, she didn't, she didn't contribute to the marital estate.

Why should she get any money? And I'm like, you got to be effing kidding me. I'm Nicole Lapton, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money. Rehap. Glenda Baker, I am so excited to welcome you to Money Rehab. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here with you. I love, love, love watching you from afar. And I really feel like you could just sell glasses to a blind man. I truly, I look at your stuff and I'm like, I lived in Atlanta for four years. I'm not interested in going back. But when you sell something, I'm like, wait a minute. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I just, I, I, I speak from my heart. I'm not selling like $50 million houses out here in Beverly Hills. I'm selling like regular houses to the everyday Bobby and Susie.

And I think that that's why my audience has really bitten into the content is because, like, they know that I'm in the weeds with them. Like, I'm selling them houses. Have you always had a knack for selling? So my first job, I actually called people to do a survey. And I started at 6 p.m. and I was fired by 715 because they told me that my accent was so bad that nobody could understand me and that I needed to find a job where I didn't talk to people. So that was job number one. And then job

number two, I worked in the gift wrap department because I couldn't pass the cash register test. And then the cash register is the thing like a computer was a long time ago back in the olden days. And then I started selling ladies shoes. And my mom always said, if the shoe fits, buy it in every color. So when somebody would ask for a seven and a half and a black, I would take black, tan, red, every color that I had. And I had like the most multiple shoe sales. And they thought I was cheating because I worked Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and I was selling more than anybody else. And then that morphed into homes and talking to people and being able to storytell. And I know something that you're really passionate about is helping the women who are buying houses right now because single women are,

one of the fastest growing segments of home buyers today. So let's help them out. Let's say a single lady's buying a house, then gets married, and their spouse wants to put their name on the house. What do you say to them? I say don't do that. I'll be very, very honest with you. I think that a pre-nup, a marriage is a contract, and a pre-nup is just a safety net for that contract. You just want everybody to understand where they are on the field. It doesn't mean that you're expecting to get divorced, but it actually maps out the worst case scenario if it ever happens. And I will tell you, I wish that I had had that. Because what a lot of people don't realize is if you own one, two, three, banana street,

and you owned it separately, and it was still in your name separately, you never put his name on it, any equity that it gained from the date of marriage to the date of divorce is a marital asset, whether his name is on it or not in a lot of states. So that is why I think that you need to have a prenuptial agreement. It needs to spell out very clearly. And I think that the reason now that more women are becoming homeowners that are single is because we were trained that the mentality was to wait, oh, you're going to get married, and then you and your husband are going to pick out a house, and you're going to have kids or you're going to do this. And now no longer are women. And waiting for somebody to give them permission. They are actually stepping out and buying what they

want and building real estate portfolios, which I love. They're not only buying primaries, but they're buying investment properties, which makes me happy as a pig in a puddle. I don't think I could get away with that line. You know, I mean, they just kind of come out. They're like Glinda islam. I don't even like, I don't realize at the time, because it sounds so normal. me to talk like this? Listen, so I lived in Atlanta for four years and I came back to LA. I'm from LA originally and I got a Georgia license when I was there, came back, was doing a show, early, early morning show, driving on the highway, got pulled over for, I don't know,

going a little bit extra. I pulled out my license and registration, right? And I gave my Georgia license and somehow out of, I don't know where, came this draw that got me out of that ticket. And so there you go. I mean, it works. You can say anything with a Southern accent and it just sounds sweet and charming. I totally agree. I totally agree. But to the pre-up point, it's so important because, as you said, different states value the equity in a different way.

But the truth is, everybody has a pre-up. Yeah. That's what the state determines is going to happen if you get divorced. So the pre-nept just takes that control back into your own hands. Absolutely. And this is the thing. It's like you never ever know, like for me, who knew that at 55 years old, I would be TikTok famous? Who knew that my husband would demand 50% of my TikTok revenue in purpose?

pituit like forever. And I mean, it never occurred to me when I had gotten married 12 years before that, that that would happen. And so I think that that is why it is so critical. You don't ever know what is going to happen or who that person is going to become. And money changes people. Would you ever get married again? No. Okay. Absolutely not. I wouldn't get married under any circumstances, period. Why not? Well, I'm not trying to have children. I don't need to build a. family. I don't need somebody to help me, you know, secure me or validate me. I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it with who I want to do it, period. Okay. And money, at this age, your money is so complicated, especially I have kids. Like, I want to make sure that nobody comes

between the money that I've earned and my children. And I don't want to put my children in a position to have to fight for that. And I don't want to put somebody that I love in a position to have to fight my children. And again, whether you're getting married or not, if you're in a partnership, whether it's a personal partnership or a business partnership, you need to have your expectations around money clearly defined. Amen. Fingers crossed that all of our money rehabbers, marriages last forever and ever the end.

you say divorce impacts women though specifically more than men 100% how so well because a lot of times the woman who was probably gainfully and equally employed at the time of marriage has either put her career on hold or has moved out of the workforce to support the husband build the family take care of the home and so they really have stepped out and one thing I have a client and her husband goes, well, she didn't, she didn't contribute to the marital estate. Why should she get any money? And I'm like, you got to be effing kidding me. Like, you realize that you wouldn't have had the freedom to do what you're doing without her support. You wouldn't have looked as good if she hadn't thrown all those parties at your beautiful home.

And now you want to put her out of your $2 million house into a $250,000 townhome. And you think that that's an equitable division of the assets? Give me a burst. break. And so that's why I think that it is absolutely critical that women understand in marriage that, I mean, if you, if you bought the house and you have a 3% interest rate on your million dollar home, and let's say that you get 50% of the equity, you get $500,000 and you've got to go buy another house and your interest rate is 6.5%. There's a cost to that. So you didn't get 50% of the equity. You really got 35% percent of the equity because now you've got to get an interest rate that is three or four times what the primary had. So, or the marital estate had. So that is why it is so critical when you are

going through divorce, when you are in this situation, that you work with an attorney that understands exactly how the money is impacted, not only from your housing, but from your job and what you would have earned. And now are you even employable? I mean, that's the thing. Think about it. You were married 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, and you haven't worked in 10, 15, 20 years. Are you even employable in 2026? Because oftentimes you come out of the marriage, house, rich, cash poor. Yeah. But you can't go to the grocery store with your mortgage. And depending on what your house is. You got the house. You know, you got the billion dollar house. I have a friend in Atlanta. She got a two and a half million dollar house in Sugarloaf Country Club. And property taxes.

Hello. Can you say 35, 38,000 dollars a year in property taxes? Well, she's got to mortgage that two and a half million dollar house to then pay for the country club lifestyle. Every single thing. And the upkeep. The swimming pool. The lawn guy. Something always breaks. $7,000. square feet in Atlanta, Georgia in Sugarloaf Country Club. Your HOA is, what, $4,000 a year? So, I mean, that's the thing is the cost to keep it up. And you're exactly right. They're house rich and cash poor. And the husband, it was not even a pothole on the road because he didn't lose his job. He didn't change his status. He didn't get any less money. He just gave her the house. They're married 25 years. their kids are grown. He kept her at a built-in nanny, built-in cook, built-in housekeeper. And now

she's got the house, but she has nothing else left. And he's literally moved on. So going through the divorce process yourself, what did that teach you about protecting well? My husband was extremely intelligent. He was, he is brilliant. I mean, absolutely brilliant. And he knew how to manipulate my trust. and he manipulated it with the money very unassuming. So all of the consumables, the season tickets, the travel, the dinner, all of that stuff, oh, you know what, you just go ahead and pay that. You know, that's part of your business expense because you're going to talk about real estate with Bobby and Susie when we have dinner with them.

While he was using his paycheck to purchase the assets. and that was something that was absolutely, like it never even dawned on me. And then when we go to to get divorced, he's like, well, she's never ever paid a mortgage payment. Are you kidding me? Or like all of the cash that was used for the renovation was from me. And then also, like not paying, he had like a regular job. He had marked on his whatever you call, W2, W4, W, whatever, that, you know, the least amount of taxes came out and then when it came time to pay taxes, oh, well, you know, honey, that's all your

all your Glinda Baker and associate's stuff. So here, 12 years, he had shorted paying his taxes. I'd been paying that. I mean, it was just, he was absolutely incredible at moving the money around. And I take full responsibility that I was not an active participant in understanding our finances, that I let my insecurity about my education. about money dictate that somebody else held the finances, held the purse strings. And that absolutely was a wake-up call to me. It was, and my son was the one who, I mean, I was, I came home, I'll never, ever will forget this. I can tell you what I was wearing. I had gone over to our marital house. He said, come over, let's sit down, let's talk about this. And,

And I said to him, look, I said, we don't have any children together. You know, we've kept our money relatively separate. You know, why don't we do this? And he looked at me straight in my face. And he said to me, in Georgia, you're married till you're divorced. And you are a cash cow. 50% of everything that you make is mine. And I have no interest in letting you go easily.

He said that to me to my face. in person. And I, and I had been evicted from the marital residence. My son and I had been evicted to a rental property that we owned that was vacant because this is during COVID. He didn't want to rent it because of COVID. And so my son and I are evicted. And I go to that rental house. My son is there. And I'm sobbing. I'm wailing. And I'm like, everybody thinks I'm this badass real estate agent that I'm so awesome and I'm so smart. And here I, you know, like this person, just took so much advantage of me. I'm so stupid. And Lucas looked at me and he goes, you are not stupid. Stop talking mean to yourself like that. He's like, don't my mom like that. He goes, don't do that.

He goes, just because that you trusted him that you loved him, because you were manipulated because you loved him and you trusted him. Don't call yourself stupid. You were honest in the relationship. And it was in that moment that I was like, okay, this is not the right mindset. Like I have got to pull myself out of this. And Lucas really was the catalyst for that. And it started the mantra. And he said to me, you are an amazing person. And it started that for me.

My name is Glenda Baker. Amazing things happen to me. My name is Glinda Baker. I'm a woman of action. And my name is Glinda Baker. Everybody's going to know my name. And I say it, the first thing before I, open my eyes. I think that in my head. I say it out loud. I say it all day long. And I just think that you

have to be kind to yourself. You talk to yourself more than anybody. If you don't know about your money, you don't know about your finances. Stop. Take the time to learn how you can be an advocate for yourself, whether you're in a relationship or whether you're alone, because nobody is going to do it for you. Oh, Glenda, I'm so sorry that you went through all of that and look at you now. Oh, it's awesome. It's amazing. You know, I think about, I went through this horrible, terrible divorce, and I really believe, honestly, in my heart, it gave me this fuel. It gave me this fuel for life to help women and just really, just really become a voice, especially for women my age that were married a long time, that grew up in a different era, that didn't take the lead with their mind. It really, really gave me this fire, this fuel to really help them. It's so important. Thank you.

Thank you for being so honest about it because I think there are a lot of women who are suffering. We've had them on the show. So how would you advise somebody who is maybe buying a house together with a spouse? What do they need to align on? What is going in that deed? Whose name is on the deed? What would you suggest now that you've been through hell and back? Don't think that you can't do a post-nuptial agreement.

If you didn't do a pre-nup, I had a girlfriend, and I said, do a post-nuptial. Make sure that everybody understands that both of your names are going to be on the house, but you're putting down 70% of the down payment. He's putting down 30% of the down payment. So if anything ever happens and you have to divide it, you want to make sure that you get back the percentage that you've put into it. If you're the one making all the renovations and you're the one paying for all of the repairs and you guys are keeping your money separate, you want to make sure that when it comes down to dividing it, that it's not 50-50. And people say, oh, but, Glinda, you know, it's different. You know, you're in love. You know, 50-50 is really fair.

50-50 is never ever really fair because I promise you, somebody always puts forth more money or more effort. It's very rare in any relationship that it's 50-50. And then on the deeds specifically, should it be tenants in common, joint tenants with right of survivorship? I know all states are different, but we just did a video specifically on this and a lot of people didn't realize it. I think that you should always have right of survivorship. But again, like my houses are all in a trust. We just created the Glitter Family Trust because I want to make sure. Best name of a trust ever.

Well, Glitter is my grandma name. And I want to make sure that my kids and my grandkids, I hope that my son gets married and I hope he stays married forever. But I don't want the house that I worked so hard for to ever be in jeopardy of him not having a place to live, of my daughter not having a place to live. Those are houses that I have given to my kids. I don't want somebody to be able to come and take them as marital property. So I think that it's critical that if somebody's going to, if you're married and your spouse

passes away, that it's very clear. Is it right of survivorship? I think that it should be because where else would that person go? And if you have small kids, like, but my house that I bought for my kids is different than the house that you buy with your husband. Like if I'm giving you a house, that goes to my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, kid. Not you. If my kid passes away, do you get to stay there? No, you do not. It goes to my other kid. And I have all of that planned out. And that's what I want you to do. I want your viewers to understand.

Pray for the best and plan for the worst. And this is the thing is if you're in a relationship with somebody and you love them and they love you, they want the best for you. Any time that somebody is not being equitable, like that's a sign. So explain how you would use the trust versus just leaving real estate in your kid's name. Oh my stars and stripes. You can't do that. Tell me why. Well, first off, because it's taxed. I mean, the estate taxed, my starch and stripes. And this is what kills me about the damn taxes is you think about this. Now, and this is what makes my head spin around snot fly to my nose is you think about it. Like, I'm paying the property taxes. I'm paying all the upkeep on it. I'm paying. I'm paying. the taxes when I go to buy a light, a light switch cover, anything that I buy, I'm being

taxed on it. Why am I going to be taxed on it when I give it to my kids? Why are they going to be taxed on it? That doesn't make any sense. Like, I've already paid all the taxes. Like, why do that? So if you put it in a trust and they're the beneficiary and you leave it there, then you don't have to worry about that taxable, that taxable event. Going through probate. Exactly. And on top of that have a very honest discussion with your children. I sat Victoria and Lucas down and I said, this is what I have done, because there's multiple properties. And I said, this is what I have done. You're getting this one. You're getting this one. You're getting this. You're getting this. And the reason that I'm doing this is because of X, because I don't ever want there to be a rift in between my

children. And that, sit, talk openly to your children about money. Talk open. If you don't have kids, talk to your siblings, talk to your partner. It, you need, everybody needs to understand what the expectation is of the other person. Because you think about it. If me and you, we're in a relationship and you think, oh, if Glinda passes away, I'm going to get one, two, three, banana street. and I leave it to Victoria and Lucas, you're mad at me and you're mad at them and you think, well, I lived here and I helped and I contributed this money. So before you and I buy one, two, three, banana street, let's have a conversation and let me say, hey, Nicole, like, look, I'm going to put this much into it.

I'm going to have this 50%, this 70%, this 30%, I want that percentage to go into my trust for my kids. And I think, look, people, as you said, have the best intentions and sometimes don't act in the best way that makes sense to fulfill those intentions. The path to hell is always paved with good intentions, as we know. A lot of families will put the house in the kid's name thinking that's the right thing to do, thinking that's the intention I want the kids to have the house. So isn't that a good thing? But what ends up happening is they go sell the house and they're going to have to pay capital. gains taxes. If you put it in a trust instead, you get this step up in basis, you avoid probate. And so I think the education around what those intentions are is what you're helping,

hopefully I'm helping to do, to actually get people to act in accordance with those intentions and the law. Well, absolutely. And putting the house in your kid's name, think about it. If I put the house in Victoria's name and then Victoria and her husband go through a divorce, then that house as part of the marital property. With that house in a trust, then that person, that spouse has no claim to that because they're a renter in that house. And so that's the thing is that,

and I'll be honest with you. I know I am conservative. Like I like to have my money. I like to look at it. If I want to buy a house, I want the money to go buy the house, do whatever renovations. I know that about myself.

And, you know, I made a video about rather than contributing to a 529, go buy an investment property. Because especially in today's world, you have a child. If you don't go buy a house today for your child, the likelihood that your child will be able to afford a house when they're ready to buy is probably going to be slim to none. And so I made a video and I said, hey, if your kid is five years old, four years old, six years old, go buy a house, make it an investment property. property, put it in a trust, make your kid the beneficiary. If they want to go to college, you can take a home equity line of credit out of that. If you don't have it paid for, you've paid down equity over the last 14, 12, 10 years, then if they go to college, who knows, do you honestly even think there's going to be college for your child? Like, do you even

think that the education system is going to be the same? I mean, hello. Like, if there isn't something that you can't Google, you can damn sure AI chat, GPT, did. So that's the thing is like, where is the education system going and is the 529 where you want to put it? To me, I can see the house at 1, 2, 3, Banana Street. And then if Lucas doesn't want the house at 1, 2, 3 Banana Street, he can sell it, he can rent it out, he can live in it, he can do whatever he wants to do with it. It's not in some account. And it's appreciated. It's a cash flow item. It's an investment and I went toe to toe with Dave Ramsey's daughter about this and she's like, who's this woman thinks she is? This is the most, this is the worst advice ever. Well, excuse me,

I'm not living in a $15 million house in Nashville, Tennessee, ma'am. Like, I sell houses to the regular Bobby and Susie. Like my people, they need to be able to create generational wealth through real estate. We're not living off of our daddy's trust fund. So, and that's what makes my head has been around snotplot in my nose is a lot of the people that give advice, give advice for people that are rich. Like, I wasn't rich when I started. I'm not rich now. I'm doing everything that I can to build generational wealth, not only for my kids, but for my grandkids, and for generations to come. And that is critical to me. And I think that it is especially important for women to do that because you don't know if someone else is going to be there to help you

take care of your kids. The advice for sure is absolutely different when you, when you come from that privilege. And I oftentimes, and we can get into this because the math is clear, you know, investing in the stock market will yield more over time than the housing market. But it's not tangible for a lot of people. A lot of people don't feel like they can get into the stock market and the housing and one, two, three, banana street is something that you can grasp and understand and hold on to. And that is how a lot of people do build generational wealth. The last time I checked, you can't live in a stock certificate, number one. Number two, if you bought a $300,000 house and you put $10,000 down, you invested $30,000.

If you held that $300,000 house over 20 years, that house is probably now worth $900,000. That's a $600,000 gain on a $30,000 investment, not a $300,000 investment, because you only put down 10%. So that, so when people talk to me about, oh, but Glenda, the stock market is a better return on investment, I understand that. Stocks are not my primary tool because I know that one, two, three, Banana Street is going to be there. And all of those people that invested in Blockbuster, damn sure thought that it was going to be there. All those people that invested in Kodak and Xerox all thought that that was going to be there. One, two, three. Banana Street is going to be there come hell or high water. And if it's not, it's insured.

That's a whole other podcast. We have, speaking of some of what people have seen from your videos, a game called TikTok trend or truth. If you could pull out some of these big TikTok trends. Oh my gosh. I can't. And then either tell us if it's a trend or if it's actually truth. We play this with Barbara Corcoran, too. You can get a home before it hits the market by writing a letter to the current owner all day, every day and twice on Sunday.

Barbara did this to get... Oh, my stars and stripes. So the house that I just, Grandma's house, that I just bought, I bought off market. Like, I mean, literally, I mean, that's the thing that, I mean, people do not realize, like, if you give a compelling

story to the owner, you never know where they are. This lady is one step into the nursing home. And so that's the thing is like people buy and sell real estate 365 days a year, no matter what the market. Death, divorce, disability, distance. I mean, there's so many reasons that people buy and sell real estate. So yes, you can buy off market all day, every day, and twice on Sunday.

I get to do another one? Yeah, there's a bunch in there. Oh, my God. I'm so excited. I love games. I love games. I took my kids on a game. weekend to Lake O'Conney and we played games all weekend and I won every game except for spoons

and Nikki won spoons but we had so much fun and Lucas was like maybe 12 or 14 years old and I he goes like mom he's like do you really think that you should just absolutely hammer us in every game I'm like yeah well look there's a whole other game you can take yeah I love this this is so awesome okay take out a he lock and use it to put a down payment on your next home well I'll be honest with you we have Francis that's done that. We have Kevin that's done that. Thank goodness that Kevin did that because you won't believe this. Sit down and grasp tightly. Kevin, I said, Jim, I said, look, I know you don't need to sell to buy, but why don't you just go ahead and take out a helock? If you need it, you've got it. And then just worst case scenario, you never know what might happen. His house

flooded. There was like a sprinkler malfunction. and had he not taken out that he lock, we couldn't put it on the market to sell it because it had been flooded. So him taking out that he lock gave him the down payment for the next house without us having to sell it and without putting him in a crunch position. So yes, you can. Truth. Yeah, it's true. If you're buying an investment property, buy it through an LLC all day, every day and twice on Sunday. And don't use one LLC.

So I have 1, 2, 3, Banana Street, LLC, 1,25 Banana Street LLC, 1,27, Banana Street, LLC. I have every single thing in a separate LLC in a separate account. And the reason that I do that is, number one, it protects each house. If Bobby or Susie falls at 1, 2, 3, Banana Street, then they're not attaching multiple houses to it, number one. Number two, it keeps all of the accounting very, very good. All of the expenses, all the money comes in, and all the money goes. out. It's just very crisp for your money. Okay. Trith.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. This is so fun. I love this and I love this little pout. A mortgage broker can help you buy a house if you have poor credit or a wonky financial situation. Okay. So look, let's be honest. Because everybody's not. There was a mortgage broker in Atlanta that really cater to the Hispanic community. And that, that, you know, that, you know, that, They had, you know, one case in particular that I knew of, which there were hundreds like this, hence the fact that he's no longer a mortgage broker. But he had gotten people into houses and was charging them like 21% interest. That's not typical because traditionally mortgage brokers or insurance brokers are paid by the financial companies. Correct.

But he was doing some things. that were very off the books, he was really doing hard money lending because their financial situation really did not put them in a position to purchase. And again, even myself, I remember after I went through the divorce with Victoria's father, I had had to file bankruptcy. I hadn't paid my bills. I had a secured credit card. I couldn't even get a credit card. And, because I was so embarrassed about my financial situation, I didn't talk to the right people to help me clean it up, to help me get it straightened out. And I fell victim to one of those car loans that was very high interest. Predatory. Very predatory. And a lot of people are embarrassed or are shameful.

look first off find somebody that you can sit down with and be honest with that is reputable and tell them what your situation is so that they can give you the steps to help yourself before somebody takes advantage of you okay so it's true to work with a mortgage broker if they're not charging hidden fees correct if you're really clear i work with a mortgage broker he's my absolute favorite and i love him and i send him all my calling And I love him because he has the ability to look at a lot of different loan products. He's not, he's like your big box lender, like ABC Bank. Like, you know, they have a very defined program that they can provide for you.

Whereas a mortgage broker has the ability to look at a lot of different people and a lot of different things and a lot of different sources. The most important thing is you want to use somebody that's reputable. Okay. So truth with a caveat. 70% of Gen Ziers would buy a house with someone of. other than a romantic partner. Is this a good idea to go splitsies on a house with your friends?

No, I don't think it's a good idea. I just don't think it's a good idea. That's probably me being too conservative. You know what? I mean, I think about like Lucas and Jack, like they're best friends. They've been best friends forever. You know, do I want Lucas to get into a financial situation with Jack?

You know, I'm probably too conservative to say yes. but it probably might not be a bad idea. But again, I go back to everything should be in writing. So everybody understands the rules of the game, where they are on the playing field. And what if Jack got married and that girl didn't like Lucas and she started creating a problem? There's never a problem until there's a problem. And when there's a problem, it's usually a big ass problem. It's a no for you, dog.

It's a no for me, but that's probably because I'm old. Do you think people are better off renting or buying in this market? And not everybody should buy. Right. Not everybody should buy. To be clear. Yeah. Buying is for some people, if it makes sense for your situation.

So, you know, oftentimes I'm sure you get asked, is this a good time to buy? I always add, like, for me, is this a good time to buy for my family? Yeah. Not in general. What is your strategy? What is your goal? What is your motivation to buy? that that really should dictate if you should buy okay because you think about it you're 27 years old

you just started job at price waterhouse or Ernst & Young the likelihood that you're going to stay in Atlanta for the rest of your life probably slim to none do you really want to own a condo in a high rise in Atlanta Georgia that literally it'd be easier to like pull teeth out of a snake than it would be to sell that thing. So, and this is the thing, is like, I always tell people the most important thing, when you are buying is the best time to think about selling. So when you are going to buy one, two, three, banana street, and you're like, Glinda, I love one, two, three, banana street. This is the house for me. I want you to think about if we had to sell it today, how easily could I sell it today? It's important to keep in mind that you need to typically stay in a house for

five to seven years to break even, you know, after transaction costs and all that because mortgage interest is, of course, front-loaded. So you're paying interest for five to seven years before you're touching that principle. And if you're talking in your example about, you know, younger people who are maybe not going to stay in Atlanta, it's probably good for them to well, you look at Owen. Owen bought 18 months ago. He thinks he's going to be in Atlanta because the movie industry is in Atlanta. He is lighting for all of the movie industry, and now the movie industry in Atlanta is not going great.

And where's he going? He's going to L.A. And what's he doing? We just put his condo on the market for sale. And are you right? Is he going to take a loss all day, every day, and twice on Sunday? Was it the best time for him to buy at the time that he bought? It was because he thought he was going to stay in Atlanta.

But, you know, who knows what's going to happen, especially at that period of your life. And then, you know, I look at people like that are my age, well, the boomers are the worst because they've got $47 trillion in equity that they're sitting on. I want those people to go rent, go rent at some luxury, 55 and older place and get out of your house so we can have that transference of the real estate industry. I mean, do you understand there is $47 trillion in equity that is being sat on and not moving? It is literally just sitting there. And so that's why I can't find Bobby and Susie a house. I mean, is it a myth that there are starter homes in this market? You're in L.A. Give me a break.

Like, a starter home here, you couldn't buy a hut here for $500,000. Like, the driveway, your driveway's probably worth. more than 500,000 dollars. And that's the thing is like, can you find a starter home? And this is what just makes me insane with Bobby and Susie. Is that Bobby and Susie think that they need to live in a $700,000 house, but they only have $500,000. Like, you don't need to live in some fancy-ass house.

Like, you think about, like, when my generation, bought their first house. It was a little tiny house. Like now, Bobby and Susie don't want a little tiny house. They want 3,000 square feet. They want a two-car garage. They want a fenced backyard. Like, you need to adjust your expectation for the lifestyle that you're living

and stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. Because this is the thing, is literally, if you bought small and stayed there two years, you could flip out of that, keep that as an investment property, and then buy your $700,000 house, and then you'd have a million dollars in real estate. Like, do you get that? Like, no, they don't think that. They want to keep up with the Joneses. They want to have Joni and Johnny over for dinner on Friday night to their $700,000 house.

And they're poor as a damn church mouse. Jason Oppenheim was here, I think, last week, and he was saying the same thing that we're not comparing exactly apples to apples for the previous generation. So what does your budget need to be, do you say? Well, whatever is your budget, it needs to not make you cash house poor. Like, this is the thing is if you go to a lender and the lender says, oh, you can afford $3,000 a month. What you don't understand is that the air conditioner when it goes out is $7,000. That when the route, on a 500,000 our house, if you need a new roof, it's $15,000.

Like, if there's a problem with the air conditioner, there's a problem with the plumbing. The dishwasher, the refrigerator leaks. Like, do you, like, get, like, how much it costs to keep that up? How much does it cost to heat and cool it? How much are the property tax is going to go up? You bought Grandma's house. When you bought Grandma's house, the tax assessment was $200,000.

You paid $500,000 for it. Her taxes, because she was 65 years old, are $871 a year. Your taxes are $6,000 a year. Are you budgeting for every single thing that it's, going to cost you to live in that house. So what is the price range that you need to be? You, in my opinion, you honestly need to be 20 percent. Your payment needs to be 20 percent of your monthly income, period, bottom line. That gives you plenty of room if something goes wrong. Because what they would say, what your lender is going to say is, you could buy up to 28 to 32 percent

of what your monthly income is. Well, you shouldn't buy up to 28 to 32 percent because if you do, you leave no room for insurance and taxes to go up and you can't turn on the heat and it'll get cold in Atlanta can't turn on the air conditioning because it's going to get hot in L.A. Like you need to think through all of the cost. All of the cost. The total cost to own. The total cost to own isn't the $3,000 mortgage payment. And that's what you think.

Forget about insurance. Oh, my stars and stripes. I mean, my insurance, you can't even imagine. My insurance went from 34 to 52. to $7,500 over the last three years. I haven't even had a claim. Yeah. I haven't even had a claim.

No, it's insane. But that's why when people say renting is throwing away money, I always disagree. Because when you're buying, you're throwing away money. You're not going to get a lot of these fees back. Right. Homeowners Association. Yeah. Property taxes.

Interest payments. And renting is not, renting is not always bad. It depends on where you are in your life. where are you in your life cycle? Where are you? What are your goals? Like this is the thing is if you travel a lot and you know, you're 27 to 32 years old and you're traveling a lot, do you want to be, you know, having to take care of one, two, three banana street?

If you're 65 years old and you're going on a three-month cruise, do you want to be stuck in some 8,000 square foot mausoleum that you don't even use half of anymore because your kids are grown and gone and your grandkids aren't coming to visit you because they live in Montana? I think you bring up a really interesting point is to play out what that lifestyle looks like. Play out all the scenarios. Even when you're investing in real estate, investing in real estate is not the same as the house that you're living in, of course, because you're trying to have an income producing property and have cash flow. But that cash flow is not free. And all of a sudden now if you rent out a house, which is a, you know, a TikTok thing that everybody is talking about, you now have to service the toilet if it breaks. You have to deal with people. that might not pay rent on time or whatever else. There's just a lot of other factors than the glitz. Tenants can be difficult.

I mean, they can be difficult. Number one, I mean, we had a shower that needed to be replaced. Okay. Well, we don't want to be displaced. You know, this is our busy season. We don't want you to come in and fix it. And now, well, you can only, the house has three bathrooms. One bathroom, the shower needs to be replaced.

like I need to get in and do it for your safety and to preserve the safety of the house and you don't want me to come in and do it and then you want me to put you in a, you know, zillion dollar rental for the eight days that my guy is there. I mean, it's just like, and then you go to put it back on the market and, you know, who knows how they've kept it. We've got a client right now that wants to sell their rental and the people are living in there like, my God, like hoarders. So like I can't show it.

I got to get the people out. So you, and that's the thing is. A lot to think about. And when you're buying a rental, you know, these short-term rentals, Airbnb arbitrage, like, oh, you can make all this money because the World Cup's coming and the Olympics are coming. And you're going to make a zillion dollars on your short-term rental.

No matter what you are purchasing as an investment, you need to look at it three different ways. Number one, what does it look like as a short-term rental? What are the county and city ordinances? How likely are they going to change? Is there an HOA? Who has the ability to limit what you can do with the property? You need to understand that.

Long-term rental. What is it going to yield you as a long-term rental? And what is the likelihood that you're going to be able to use it as a long-term rental? Are people really going to rent in that area? And then if you had to sell it tomorrow, how easy is that product to sell? So I tell every single person that I sell an investment property to look at it as a short-term rental, a long-term rental. And if you had to sell it tomorrow, could you sell it? That's the way I want you to think about investments all day, every day, and twice on Sunday.

Where would you invest in real estate right now? So I personally think that the best place to invest is the South because I think that the weather is good. I think the cost of housing down there is still affordable. I love Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia. I love that pocket. Why? Because I know more about it, maybe. But also because a lot of people are moving in that area.

Taxes are favorable. Insurance costs, you're not close to like, as long as you're not on the coast, you're not close to like a hurricane or flood or anything like that. If you can get somewhere, number one, that is. affordable. When I say affordable, I'm talking 200 to 400,000, okay, something that you could rent or that you could sell easily if you needed to, okay? And something where the insurance cost or the tax basis is not unreasonable. And those two things are the biggest variables right now for people looking to invest in real estate. In Florida, between HOAs and insurance, I understand that people are

like, oh, Florida's a great place to invest. To me, there's too many factors that can really change very quickly. And think about the OnlyFans tax. I just saw that in a video that if you are on OnlyFans, they're going to take 50% of your income as taxes. I mean, Sophie Rain, she needs to move to Atlanta. And if she needs a real estate agent, I can help her with that. Like, I'm just telling you right now. I mean, think about you made $53 million last year and they're going to tax you 50% because it was on Onlyfans. That's completely and totally ridiculous. You're open for only fans business, Glenda. I'm telling you right now, if I can make $53 million, I'd be the most recognized tits and ass in real estate on only fans. I'm telling

you, I don't criticize anybody's business model. Whatever is your business model is your business model. Praise the Lord and pass the money. I don't begrudge anybody an opportunity to make money as long as they are making an honest living and not hurting somebody else. But you think about You think about Jason Tatum. You think about Jalen Brown. You think about some of these athletes and what their body goes through. And here's Sophie Rain, who put out 195 pieces of content, 41 videos, and made $53 million. I want to know what's the secret to her damn success.

I mean, I know that there's a lot of skin showing. But I mean, $53 million. I mean, I think I should charge you $49.99 to respond to your DM too. So do you think there's going to be a big exodus from Florida? of only fans and you want to take their business. Come to Atlanta. We would welcome you. How, we have Magic City Monday.

We love a scandal in Atlanta. I think there is a big debate, too, about this affordability crisis. So I'm glad that you underscored getting something affordable. Of course, that's different for everybody. But what do you think about the affordability crisis debate? And I know you have some thoughts about private equity's role in this. Don't even get me starting on private equity because my head will spin around. It's not a fly to my nose.

Atlanta is an area that has been really hard head. People say, oh, well, Glenda, it was only 23% of the homes that were sold were sold to private equity in 2025. Excuse me, 61% of 0 to 500,000 sold to private equity. Okay. And my biggest concern with private equity is how they come up with the valuation. Okay. So are they self-valuing these properties? Are they getting an appraisal on them, are they taking the loss or are they augmenting the pricing? It depends on what they want to do with the portfolio. To me, anytime that one entity owns 18,000 units in an area, that is a big damn problem. Well, also then you control the comp. So the way to price your house is understanding the comp of the market, right? But then you own the whole market. Yeah. So, I mean, literally,

you paid $300,000 for it, for it, and then you sell it to your private equity for $500,000. Like, hello, like, make that make sense to me. It just, you're never, ever going to convince me that private equity owning that much of the housing market doesn't keep Bobby and Susie on the hamster wheel and create a renter nation for the rest of their life. There isn't any argument that you'll ever be able to come to me with because I have seen in real life from the front row that Bobby and Susie. are outbid on zero to 500,000 everyday houses in Atlanta, Georgia, because private equity comes in and buys them as is and pays cash.

So that is definitely very, very near and dear to my heart. Now, affordability, I think that it is critical that people understand affordability. You go back to Bobby and Susie that have a beer budget and champagne taste. are we really having an affordability issue or are Bobby and Susie spending $7 at Starbucks every single day? Because you think about it, I wasn't spending $7 at Starbucks every single day when I was looking to buy a house. So have their expectations changed and have their lifestyle change. And is that why that housing is not affordable? I don't think that's as much the case as I think that wages have not gone up enough,

equal to what the housing market has. The housing market has, in my opinion, and I'm a real estate agent, is falsely augmented. I think that people paid more than houses were worth to get the house and they had the money. You think about people who moved from California, people who moved from the Northeast, especially during COVID,

nothing did more for Atlanta appreciation than the California buyer because you cashed out here. with monopoly money. I mean, you think about it. I had somebody come from Huntington Beach that sold a 1,400 square foot, $2 million house and bought a 7,000 square foot on an acre for a million four in Atlanta. So you, and they're living large. And that's the difference is that, you know,

you have run the pricing up, wages haven't increased. I mean, eggs, butter, things that, regular food that people, have need to have to eat have gone up so much. So I think that there's affordability across many levels that are challenges. But for me, I think that it is a multi-pronged approach that will help affordability. And that is, what is the lifestyle? What are you willing to give up to afford what you want? That's really critical. How are you going to live? And are you willing to live in something that is not exactly what you want today so that you can get something better tomorrow. Yeah, I think there are definitely different prongs. Not all of them are weighted equally.

I think the yes, you know, you want to make sure that you are living below your means, especially if you're saving up for something big. I wouldn't blame the latte. I would for sure more blame the wage crisis. Well, it's wages, but think about social media. I mean, we all want to keep up with the Kardashians. Like, I want a Chris Jenner facelift. Like, I mean, hello. Like, you don't need a Chris Jenner face. No, but I mean, but think about it.

I mean, you're, especially our youth, like houses over handbags. Like, really, I mean, we have a shirt that says stocks over stuff. That's the thing. It's like, I want you to think about every time that you buy that fancy pocketbook. Like, do you understand that the majority of Louis Vuitton pocketbooks are equal or more than a house payment? Like, really, I want you to think about that. You can go today and you can buy a $3,000 pocketbook or you can make a house payment. It's your choice.

Which do you prefer? Are you going to be the little old lady who lived in a handbag? I mean, that's the thing. It's like, and I think that you're exactly right. ages have not kept up. And yet social media, you can't wear the same thing twice. That's why I've got a closet full of star sweaters, because I don't want everybody to see the same star sweater over and over again on social media. So what are we teaching people is that you've got to consume more consumables? What are the richest companies in the world? I mean, my God, that Louis Vuitton brand,

they're making more money than anybody. People are holding onto their mortgage rates as well. Yeah. That's that 47. trillion dollars. And so we've, we've seen that phenomenon, but you do say that there is turnover because of the four D's. So what are the four D's? So there's death, divorce, diamonds, diapers, distance, downsizing, and disability. Oh, they're 70s. There's 70s. Okay. And you really, I mean, you really think about like desperation. You could really put desperation to make it eight. But you think about it. And people say diapers, well, if you have a kid and you're living in a one-bedroom you probably need to move. Or, I hate to say this, if you're 85 years old and you're going

into diapers, you probably need to be going into assisted living. So diapers get you coming and going. I mean, diamonds, you get married, you want to buy a house. You get divorced. You got to sell a house. I mean, you think about it. You got too much debt. You can't afford to the landscaper, the pool guy. You can't afford the taxes, the insurance, debt. And distance. Like, you want to be closer to your grandkids. Like you need to be closer to your parents. Disability. Like, you can't go up and down the stairs anymore. You need a primary bedroom on the main. Downsizing. You're living in an 8,000 square foot house. It's just you and your husband. Your kids are already grown. Do you really need that? And so, in desperation, like, how desperate are you? Do you really

want to be an owner right now? Or would you rather be a renter? So, I mean, we, we, people buy and sell real estate 365 days a year because of the Ds of real estate. I can go through all 18 closings that I had in March and I can give you a D for the reason that those people sold. And I can, and I could go through the 11 listings that I've got coming. Same exact thing. People buy and sell real estate all of the time. It's a really good framework and I love alliteration. Nationally, there are nearly 50% more buyers, according to Redfin. They say it's a buyer's market. Do you agree?

I think that it's a buyer's market. It depends on what the market is. It depends on what the product is. It's interesting that we have seen more deals fall through in Atlanta in Q1 than ever before that we've been keeping statistics. Yeah. Why? They think that they paid too much. They wanted to renegotiate on inspection.

They didn't really love it and they found something that they liked better. There's people, people have a tender mentality with housing because they think that if they continue to swipe, that there's something better coming. And Zillow has really made people think that there is an endless supply of houses. because you just, oh, I can just swipe on that one because there's another house that I like better. And really, I think that that is just a mental state that people are kidding themselves. Because if you can't be satisfied, are you ever going to find the right house? Like, I mean, we've got somebody right now. We're under contract on a house.

I think they're getting a screaming great deal. They're getting a phenomenal deal. And they're trying to get $11,000 more dollars out of the seller. and are they going to lose the house? Yeah, probably. And they won't ever be able to get that house again for what they're under contract for. But the house is under contract, right? So it's showing in the MLS that it's under contract. So the buyer comes back to me and says, well, Glenda, if your people don't give $11,000, you're going to put it back on the market. So she's really trying to bully me into talking my seller into taking it because is the stigma of going back on the

market going to play in her favor or the favor of the seller. It's going to play in her favor all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. So that's the thing is you've really got to think through, like, strategically, like manage people's expectation. And we told her, look, you're kicking the shit out of us on the front. You can't do it again on the back. And if you manage the expectations better on the front, I think that it gets people to the closing table.

But, I mean, you think about it. In 2021, I had two deals fall through. Like, I've had two deals fall through in the last two weeks. Like, you know, it's just, it's, the mentality of buyers and sellers. Sellers are like, oh, it's ridiculous. And I'm thinking to myself, your house has been on the market six months. You need to sell this house worse than you need to take your next breath. Like, this person is the highest bidder.

If you don't sell your house, you're the lucky winner. You get to keep it. Is that your goal? Like, I mean, at some point, you know, you need to figure out what is the motivation of each party? Is it better to ask for that $11,000 off the purchase price or to ask for what? You always want closing costs. Because, and you think about it, this buyer is putting down 10%. So 10% of $11,000 is nothing.

But $11,000 in closing costs is real less money that she has to bring to closing. So you always, you all. This is such an important point. Say it again for the people in the back. 99.9% of the time, you always want the seller to pay the closing costs because that is actual real dollars that stay in your pocket. If you took $11,000 off of the price, it is just the percentage that you're putting down. And you're also lowering the value. Yeah, you're lowering the value and you're only lowering.

your payment three three dollars so like that's the thing is like the 11,000 dollars is real money that you get to keep it's tangible in your hands today and what's the best way to make sure you get that is that you put it in closing costs and that you put a special stipulation because usually closing costs are use it or lose it so we we just had a club we represent the seller we just had of closing and they asked for $26,400 in seller closing cost for the buyer. Okay. Their closing costs were $22,000. So they lost $4,000. Lost it. Whereas if they had had a special stipulation put in that they could buy down the rate, if they had put a special stipulation in that it came off the price, if they had put a special stipulation in that it could have been reimbursement for inspections,

then that would have covered that. But they did not put in that key special stipulation. And that goes back to it matters who you work with because you may think that your mother's, brother, sister's best friend needs the business, but they may not know their head from a hole in the ground. And that's the thing is that cost that buyer $4,000. That's real money.

And on a $400,000 house. So, okay, exactly what should we be asking for? So you want, you want to ask the seller to pay your closing costs. You want a special. And that, and that happens a lot. Oh, yeah, especially in the everyday Bobby and Susie houses. Okay, you're buying a $5 million house, six in one, half a dozen in the other. $11,000 isn't going to be a drop in the bucket.

It's a completely different thing in that price range. But you're talking about, you know, zero to $700,000, $11,000 is $11,000. And so this is the thing, is that you want a special stipulation that says that if any of the closing costs go unused, that you can use them as a price reduction or as a reimbursement to any other costs or a buy down of the rate, that they can be used at the buyer's discretion for anything. Period. Bottom line, all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. Linda, we end all of our episodes by asking our guests for a final tip, money tip. They can take straight to the bank. Don't buy based on emotion. Buy based on strategy.

If you control your time, your money, and your emotions, you can control anything. Always buy based on strategy, not on emotion. Perfect. I'm taking it to the best. And was there a time that you specifically needed money rehab? I mean, I just, I mean, I think about, I think about when I had $44 and I was feeding my kids Pandexpress. I think about all the money that I pissed away trying to impress other people. I think about that I was too embarrassed to be honest with myself, much less anybody else about my money.

And I want to encourage people to educate themselves, to understand the money yourself. Don't take anybody else's word for it, whether it is your partner or your spouse or your CPA. I want you to make sure that you understand firsthand where is your money and how is it working for you. and does this align with your strategy today, tomorrow, and next year?