KGCI: Real Estate on Air - From Homebirth to Home Sales: Angie Carocci on Family, Real Estate, and Building Legacy

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

Welcome to Real Estate Real World, where we talk to the movers, shakers, and leaders that are getting it done right now in the real estate industry and beyond. I'm your host, Marguerite Chris Billow, and I started this podcast simply dedicated to calling people about what's really happening in this crazy roller coaster ride of real estate. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and stay up to date on the newest stuff by adding yourself to the list at www. world.com. Now let's dive into the world of real estate. Hello, hello, hello. It's Marguerite. And today, we are in for a treat on real estate real world. Be sure to follow us on social media and give us a review if you have time. But today I'm excited about my conversation with Angie Caroichi. It's funny because sometimes you meet people and you just instantly connect and you instantly adore them. And what I love more than anything,

about Angie is how genuine and real she is and authentic. And it comes across in everything that she does. And so let me read her bio real quick, make all the formalities. So Angie Karachi is a top-performing realtor and founder of Acre, Real Estate, Inc. and currently building the acreage crew, a collaborative group of like-minded real estate agents focused on community over competition where we can connect, collaborate, and build a community. Based in Placerville, Angie's helped over 250 families and produced over $85 million in volume during her career, consistently placing her as one of the top three agents in Placerville, El Dorado County, and earning her a spot as a top 250 agent with Sacramento Real producers across all brokerages.

Known for her straightforward, no BS approach, Angie balances her thriving real estate business with being a soccer mom of three, wife to the propane man, and live in the rural life on their 80 acres. She even had a home birth with her third during a full man. Being born and raised in Placerville, daughter to the once upon a time mayor, and raised in small business on historic Main Street. She has a deep local knowledge of Placerville, tons of connections, and knows the surrounding areas like the back of her hand. That intimate knowledge helps her connect clients with homes that truly fit their lifestyle and dreams.

Angie's reputation for honesty, hustle, and putting her client's long-term happiness first sets her apart. She knows she's going to see clients around town, and her philosophy is that she wants to be able to say hi and give a hug because everyone becomes friends. She's passionate about supporting local, keeping the real in real estate and building generational wealth for her clients, all while collaborating and connecting with other hardworking moms and realtors nationwide.

So, come on down, Angie. Hey there, I'm out. How are you? I'm excellent. Thank you for having me, Marguerite. Good. I'm so excited to have you here. I know we've been talking about it for a while and finally got our calendars to collide. And so I'm really excited. You know, I was laughing because when I called you last week with our good friend Brent Goh. And Brent was saying his favorite thing was when you got up and spoke at a recent event we had. And you talked about your story. I'm going to tell the story of, your Coors story. Well, you know, I've never been opposed to drinking a nice cold Coors light at a gas station or wherever I need to be. And so I think it's just a matter of being that humble hustler and being real. Sometimes we need a beer or a glass of wine or a cry fest or a bitch fest.

You know, that's just real life. I love it. I love it. How did you actually get into real estate? I got into real estate after my family closed down their outdoor stores on Main Street of Passa Rille. I kind of floated around. I got farmers markets for a couple of years. I had a friend when I sold retail good who always said, you should be a realtor. You should be a reliter. I didn't really know what realtors did. To be honest, my husband and I bought our house and we decided that

after that we just kind of needed. I needed something more to do. So we did and I got into it shortly thereafter that in 2014 when I was pregnant with my second child. And fun fact is that the morning I gave birth to Clementine, my second child, I also opened up my very first escrow ever. But same morning in the hospital. That is so cool. I mean, yes and no, right? Like there's a great part of it, but you know, you're starting this whole career. But the other part where, you know, sometimes our real estate career in industry can kind of take over life, right?

Totally. Always. Yeah. And so you opened your first escrow when your daughter's newborn. And what has that been like? Because then you obviously had another baby after that, because you have three. And how had that all worked with you having three young kids even? I mean, when I started in real estate, I was in the same boat.

My, I used to carry my son Jake, who's now going to be 30 this year or next year. Okay. In a little on his car seat carrier, into the real estate office when I started my real estate career back in 1994. Well, it was 95 when he was born. but it's just funny how, you know, real estate really has become a great business and career for moms, right? Absolutely. And so how has that worked with you being, you know, having these kids and trying to help customers and sell real estate and help me understand a little bit about what that has been like, what that journey's been like for you? Well, you know, it's kind of a too hung question.

One, on the personal impact of your family is that you're on 24-7. And so you really need to have a support system, either fellow agents or a husband or children who do really realize that you are on your phone pretty much 24-7. The flip side of that is that you can be on your phone at a soccer game or a tournament or at an open house or back-to-school night. Those connections are really just starting to establish who you are and how you can be here, there, and everywhere, and still a really hardworking, driven mom and support system for your family. How has it been with your husband? Because I know that's a challenge for a lot of people. I feel a little bit blessed because my husband was in the mortgage business. He's retired now, but he was in the mortgage industry. And so he understands kind of that life of being on, call so much. But your husband's a propane guy? Yep. He is our local propane man here. He is,

I call him kind of like a Captain Savo for lack of a better term. He's incredibly charming. People really relate with him. He really loves to help on our personal relationship side. He does not understand the phone. And he believes that a phone should be for his usage only. So that is a conflict. And I think it's a conflict with a lot of real estate agents and their own personal relationships. And so how do you communicate with your partners to make them understand the value that you're bringing home? How much is your paycheck? What does a commission base look like so that they can get on board with supporting it? It has been touch and go over the 10 years I've been in real estate. We are at a place now thanks to always good therapy and being

willing to work together to better the relationship dynamic. But being on your phone 24-7 is a challenge for, I think, most real estate agents. And it can be really true. challenging for a real estate partner. Yeah. It's interesting that you say that because, again, my husband's been a bit more understanding in a lot of ways, but we have had to learn, right, how to have some semblance of balance and be able to turn the phone off. And I've found that when you help your clients understand up front what your schedule is, 99% of them are much more understanding, right? Like my voice now has said for years that I take Sundays off to be with my family. And I would say that 90% of the time, not 100% of the time, honor them. And my clients

honor it. But it's not easy for sure. And, you know, what we've learned to do is to try to focus on what our goals are, right? Because focus on what your goals are and what you're trying to accomplish. They can be a bit more understanding. But, But otherwise, it can be, it can definitely have its own set of challenges. What about your kids? How do they, how do they handle it most of the time? Well, I am the primary caregiver for my kids. For example, this morning, my son texted me in middle school.

Hey, mom, I have a headache. Can you come get me today? You know, I mean, so they do reach out. They do know that I'm around the benefit of being a real estate agent and a relitter mom where people know your vehicle in a small town. They usually know kind of where you're at or where your office is. When your kids get in trouble or they're doing something that, they're not supposed to be doing.

You know about it, right? You know everybody around. And, you know, it's kind of having those boots on the grounds and a lot of different places about being a real estate mom. I also get calls from the schools. For example, I just did a big calendar magnet for the elementary school locally here. That is the calendar of the school year has my name and my business information on it. So people are seeing me front and center throughout the school system locally here,

which is kind of cool. So my kids, you know, they don't have any idea really, I think. of what I do. They're still pretty young. My eighth grader knows a lot more so now, but you know, they just, they know I'm on the phone all the time and I'm going to all these different houses and they think it's pretty glamorous. So it's a pretty cool industry. You know, it's funny because I hear from a lot of moms that mom guilt, right, where they feel like they're not there enough for their kids or they're not spending enough time with them. And what's so funny is my kids are all grown now, so they're adult. And for the longest time, both of them were like, well, I'm never

going to be a real estate agent. And they also didn't understand it, but they also didn't know any different because I remember talking to my boys at one point. I'm like, what was it like growing up with a real estate mom? Like, you're the only mom we have, so we don't really know any different. And they also said what you said earlier is that I was always able to be there for soccer games, baseball games, football games, whatever they had going on. I could drop everything and go pick my kids up if they were sick or I was able to do a lot of that. So I think if you're a mom and listening out there and you're feeling guilty for whatever reason, just know your kids are going to be fine.

We got to do so much more together, don't you think? Taking your kids on vacation or you can take off for the weekend or whatever you need to do when you need to do it, right? Absolutely. And, you know, I will say that within the last three years of my career, I've really gotten a lot better at time management and kind of setting those boundaries. So now my voicemail does say Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. weekends and holidays and evenings by appointment only. And I think that setting that expectation right up front of these are my hours that I am working, I will do my best to try and answer you

as quickly as possible. I personally sleep with my phone in my kitchen. So it's learning these little tips and tricks of what's helped and what has worked for other agents just by being around our sphere has been really helpful for me when building my business and building it out and setting those expectations. And on the flip side of that, most of my buyers are also family people. And they get it. We're all in the thick of it and we're all just trying to do the best that we can and be successful and bring home a paycheck and do whatever we need to do to make sure that our family is well taken care of. Well, and on a side note, separate conversation is I love what you guys have created up there in the Placerville area with. You've now expanding your agents that you're working with and helping and mentoring and guiding and coaching. And I love coming to your guys' meetings.

I don't get to them often enough, but I love that you have now created this second part of your brand called acreage, right? And how did that come about? Well, so honestly, when I joined EXP, I had the availability to take my acre real estate, which I've had an S4 since 2016 with it and really kind of start to run with it and say, hey, this is acre real estate. This is what it is. Acre is singular, right? So an acre is one parcel of land. Whereas when you start talking about acreage, it's many. And so it really changed my mindset from just me and being an individual agent to really

wanting to collaborate and help build together with other agents. So my whole thing with it is the acreage crew where, you know, collaboration over competition and we really like to work together. And how can we help that with either cultivating relationships or building our community and just working through that? also within rural real estate. Or if you want to be in the city and you want to do suburbs, how can we brainstorm of branding together, using each other's stats,

making us all look a little bit better, what kind of pop-bys do you want to do? Just an open collaboration of communication between agents is really what we're looking for. And so Acre stands obviously for Angie Caroichi real estate, right? Yeah. And I just love the Acreyssenan. When you came out with that, I was like, that is brilliant. I mean, but they just tie.

into what you're already doing. And I love your explanation, right, of more than you. It's a bigger dream, a bigger vision of what's possible out there, right? Well, and I think that that's really one of the big things that that kind of drew me to EXP from global bankers specifically was just that it's beyond Placerville. It's beyond Eldeter County. It's beyond California. I mean, there are rural agents in Montana where my mom lives now who are looking kind of for this home base of people who we can chat with a couple of times a week and I have virtual assistance that can help them build out Canva and all of the kind of stuff. It's like how do we all help each other grow, especially during this kind of great California exodus, as I call it, where most people or a lot of people are leaving

the state and how do I help my clients be in a better position someplace else? How do I connect them to be with somebody who thinks like me, who works like me, who handles their business like me as an icon agent, be successful in another state? So I love the, that you talked a little bit about ICON because I feel like you're definitely an icon in your community and what you have done. But at EXP, ICON means that you've closed a certain amount of deals and they allow us to where we can receive up to $16,000 in stock. But the biggest part of ICON that I think sometimes people forget is that a big part of it is the requirement to be able to give back to your community and give back to the local real estate people and people in

EXP. And what have you seen as part of that? Has that helped you in your business? Has it changed the way you do business or the way you think? Well, by nature, I am a leader. You know, I just buy my disc profile. I'm very much so, a caregiver. Just by my heart of hearts, I have always been an open book. I have always said I'm unapologetically me, if I could speak correctly. And so I think that naturally people tend to want to be around my success level, right? And they want to emulate. And I think that's a huge form of clattery. So how can I open up my books and show other agents who have that same kind of drive and desire? But the whole question is, what do I do now? How do I do this? And by becoming an icon agent, A, back for

being who I am naturally, which is really cool. And then B, it gives you that one additional, like, tool in your pocket that you're like, hey, not only am I saying this, but because of my production base, the company also recognizes it. And it just gives you a little bit more ammunition to be able to say, when I say that this is something that works, it really does work. And this is why, because I have these success stories. So what would you tell to a brand new agent or what would you tell yourself if you were just

getting into real estate? Like, what advice would you give you if you were a brand new agent right now? You're going to think before you swim a little bit. But actually last night, ironically, I got a phone call when I was at soccer practice at 6.30 at night. And I spent an hour on a phone with a brand new agent, a gentleman who was asking, what do I do? And I said, your first thing is you just got to work your sphere of influence. Most of us have all of these humans around us that we get so stuck on what you're supposed to do. Oh, you're supposed to be doing the open houses

or you're supposed to be doing these pop-bys. You're supposed to be doing all of these things on social media, right? And there's a rabbit hole that you can go down for hours, and it's overwhelming. It's overwhelming to a seasoned agent. The first thing that you could really do is, A, I wear a name tag almost everywhere I go. B, just talk to people. Be kind, be genuine. Don't be that agent.

You know, you need to work with me. Nobody wants that. Everybody knows a realtor here there and everywhere. Prove who you are and show your value. What makes you stand out differently from. me or anybody else that's around. It's just trying to be who you are and how can you help them fill their need? Because it's not about us. It's about the client. It's about what is their future goal? What are they looking to do for their family? I tell people all the time, I am not in sales.

It is not my job to sell you at a house. It is my job to give you the options that are going to be the best choice for your family. And then let's talk about it. What does that look like for you? It's so funny that you say that because I had a similar situation yesterday. I had two of the new agents on my team. And we were going through that exact case scenario is it, I think sometimes agents, especially some that have been around for a bit or have big egos, I don't know, feel like it's my job to tell you what to do. And the older I get, the longer I've been around, the less I really believe that and understand. It's my job to give you information. It's your job as the client, the consumer, to use that information to make the best decisions that work for you. And you're

or family. And I just think that that's so valuable in just helping them understand what their options are and what they can do and how they can do it to accomplish the goals that they want to accomplish, right? Absolutely. So recently, you have expanded your social media presence considerably. And it's been a rare fun to watch because not only have you posted a lot more and done a lot more, but I love how you've actually been very real. I know you're going through some challenges with, you know, your father who is ill. And it just when I, every time I watch one of your posts, I feel so much more connected to you and what you're going through. And how has that been for you? And I think that the biggest challenge people feel is like, how much do we share?

Are we sharing too much? Are we not sharing enough? Are we, you know, do we need to focus only on what we did, what real estate is going on? Or help us understand a little bit about what you have, why you made the changes you've made and how that's helped you in your business. Well, I will say in March of this last year, I was in Cople, Mexico at one of Brent's build events. And there was a woman who was speaking on stage by the name of Liz Brown. Now, Brown does all sorts of social media stuff. And so what I have found that's really so cool about EXP is that even though an agent might be in Virginia, she's in Charleston, Virginia, right? She is willing to open up about how she was building her brand and she does what's called Film School on Wednesday mornings. So I joined her film school program and I have been doing that on Wednesday mornings for a few months now. And the thing about social media is that it's an opportunity. to reach humans who you would never see, right?

It's an opportunity to get in front of hundreds of thousands of people that you would not have the opportunity to get in front of unless you were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I have found that the more I can be, I'm not the professional real estate agent. I'm not somebody who's going to show up in heels in my super cute car. I drive a big, dirty Ford Expedition, and I'm usually probably wearing Birkenstocks, right?

So they am a little bit different. My family life is different. We live in a funky old house on 80 acres where my husband's out in the shop tinkering on a tractor or a dirt bike or shooting a gun. Who knows what they're doing, right? So I decided that I wasn't going to go down the rabbit hole of, oh, this is what you can buy in Alderoy County. I wanted to show on a daily basis or semi-daily what do I do. What does it look like in a day of the life of Andrew Brochi? What I think yesterday I did a thing where my hair was getting done.

I had this like foil. Be a lost in morning morning when shared it on TikTok. Because those are the things. We are missing that real life social connection. And the world, I call it false book, right? The world of social media is very fake. And so I'm not a very fake human and sometimes there's good and sometimes there's bad.

And sometimes I'm drinking a course light at a gas station. I don't know. So I think it's really just trying to show who I am and what sets me apart because probably there's another real estate mom out there or dad who's going through a similar thing. and if I can be somebody that they need to reach out to and have a conversation with of, hey, how did you get through this process? I'm here for it, whatever we can all do to try and help each other. I love that. And I have to say, it'll be 31 years I've been in

real estate this fall. And what I have seen change in the industry over my career is the ability to be more you are and genuine because you're going to attract your tribe. And I was just having this conversation with my son, John, who's taking his. real estate exam on Halloween. And a few years ago, I'll tell this story. When he's a teenager, he wants all the tattoos, right? He's a DJ in San Diego. And so I was like, don't get tattoos, John, it's going to be a problem. Whatever your career is, you don't know. And of course, he's covered in tattoos. And so I was laughing yesterday. The funny thing is how this industry has changed now is that people can genuinely be more who they are because they're going to

attract their tribe. He's not going to probably attract someone like me, my age or whatever. He goes, the old gray ladies, I go, hey, your mom has old and gray now. But it's now okay to be, just be who you are. And you're going to attract a certain audience. You're going to attract a certain group of people that are going to feel comfortable in your space, right? And that I think is probably my favorite thing about the industry now and how we've evolved. Because I was watching somebody who was talking about how we, and we used to, I used to always be dressed in suits and heels and, you know, always. And that's gone away. And not saying that that's not okay. There are people who, you know, dress the nine. But it's become more casual and I think in a better way and more

realistic because somebody maybe before who might not have bought a home or might not have approached you because they didn't feel like they needed to have a certain person now does, right? Mm-hmm. Have you seen that for you in your industry, just in your business, attracting more moms, people with kids, that kind of thing? So I think I've always been a strong believer of what you put out in the world is what you receive. And so, and good things happen to good people.

So I, my clientele for a lot of time has always been that family who is either, having forbidden to gone through a divorce. and so they need that neutral third party of somebody who's going to say, hey, Mr. Seller, this really sucks right now. Like it just is what it is. How do we figure out what you want? Hey, Mrs. Seller, your world is looking different right now. How do we figure out what you want?

And kind of be that middleman who's not so driven by the dollar and who, you know, needs to pay for this fancy sports car or the suits or the dresses or whatever. I do have some tattoos. Granted, they're 20 years old or so at this point. But I used to have purple. hair or I used to be professional snowboarder in my past life. So I've been around a lot of different things that I don't, I don't really care if you're a first time home buyer buying a piece of land for $150,000 or $1,000 or you're buying a $1.5 million property that our job, our career is still the

same, regardless of who's human is. And so all we can really do is be the best that we can be and help educate of what are the expectations of that particular property or nuance or whatever's going on there and how can we just set that tone? Because at the end of the day, a buyer wants to buy a house and a seller wants to sell a house and a solid agent is going to be that middleman of communication of how do we make that transition happen that both parties are happy because the goal is the same regardless of what size you're on. So now that you've been in business 10 years, you're probably now have some repeat clients, right? People who bought us before and now are selling or selling and buying. And how has that changed or

impacted how you do things. I do it. So repeat clients are fun because a lot of times lifestyle changes, right? So they're either having more babies or their parents are moving up here from the Bay Area because they moved up here five years ago, right? So it's really fun to see that kind of familiar

change throughout a family dynamic. Sometimes it's not so good, sometimes it's for a death, but then it's really nice to be there and helpful for your clients who you have grown to admire and love and trust. And sometimes, Sometimes it's, hey, they're going to sell one parcel of land because they're going to build their dream house on another one. And so that's really a fun transition of being present through multi stages of people's lives because we're all just human.

We're all just trying to figure it out and do what's right for us and our family. That's awesome. So what goals do you have? Like what is next for you in again, you're 10 years in. So this is usually a time when people are rethinking how they're doing things and what they want things to. like, what is next for you? I absolutely love what I do. I don't care if you're buyer or seller first time, fifth time. I love it. I'm here for all of it. So my goals haven't really changed too much. I don't think I will ever not be selling a real estate. Even if there's a meme on

social media right now that says, if I were to win the lottery, there'd still be signs that I'm a real estate agent. It's like we wouldn't stop doing the things that we do because it's really a passion. My mom used to always say find the job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life. I'm excited to get up and come into the office every day. I don't really get tired of that. I have the benefits of being the flexibility for my family. So as far as really like selling real estate, I don't think that anything's really going to change there.

My goals are still to help my clientele to the best of my ability. The acreage fruit is a newer thing for me within this last year. That's really where I feel like I can take my intimate knowledge of my mistakes and my errors and my family dynamic and how to share that knowledge. with what other agents who maybe don't need to go through some of the trials and tribulations that me and my husband went through or how can I connect with other agents who are growing in a similar fashion as me that we can grow together. How do we all help each other be more successful? EXP, our brokerage here in El Dorado County is the number one brokerage now. So we do have some

eyes on us of people watching and seeing how we're changing the forward progression of real estate here in our local area. And I think that's going to start happening more often. So how can we all be boots on the ground to help each other succeed? Because really, we all become business partners when we join with the equity. And I love that. And what I love is that you started with the failures and the mistakes and that because I think sometimes people get so focused on the successes that they think, oh, you haven't screwed up. You're perfect. You've been doing all this. And what I know is that the most successful people have failed more than they've succeeded. They've learned all the hard stuff and learned how to do things differently. What would you say has been the biggest challenge that you've

had to overcome in real estate? Probably the reality of being on 24-7, right? Real estate agents are known for not really getting days off. It is that 24-7, if somebody's needing you for something, it's buying a house or selling a house is the most important thing in their life, any given time. So sometimes you get those calls at 8 o'clock at night that you need to be sensitive to. Sometimes you can defer them to the next day, but sometimes you can't. Just trying to, I say that's the hardest part that I have had for me to be a challenge in real estate is just trying to get over that 24-7 needing to be on. The other caveat of that is really trying to have a successful relationship when you are, when you give so much to other humans all day long that then by the time you get home, maybe your partner needs you or your kids need you and you're tapped out. So how do you continue to give and set boundaries so that yourself is taking care of in your own heart?

Oh, I love that so much. So in your career, as we wrap up today, we'll wrap up with this one. What have you been the most proud of? Ooh, that's a hard one. I would say, A, having natural childbirths with all three of my babies and then having my third baby at home in my bedroom. Under a full moon is absolutely like the icing on the cake of what I consider a mom's success, right? I don't really care of other people have birth, however they want to have birth, but or give birth. For me, that was a huge win, I guess you could say.

I also get so excited when other, when buyers get into contract on a house. Right now I have a first time home buyer, single mom, two boys who are friends with my kids. And I got her into a house with seller concessions. And I worked really hard with this other local agent. We won the transaction, not because she was the most money that she was bringing the most money down or she was the most put together buyer, but because I was representing her and because of the passion and that other agent was able to understand that. And so those kinds of wins are absolutely incredible when it's so personal and you just know that you're changing somebody's

life for the better. I love that. Well, Angie, I'm so excited and thrilled that we got to spend this time together. You know, you're one of my favorite people in the plan. planet and I enjoy any time I get to spend with you because you always make me laugh somehow. And that is probably the best thing that I think you bring to the table is your infectious laughter and all that you do to get back. So thank you for being you and all that you do. Thank you so much. This has been great. I just love it. Well, thank you everybody for joining us again on Real Estate World where we get to talk to all the cool people and some of my favorite people on the planet, including Angie. Be sure to go out and show you.

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