We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Corsino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Everyone has crazy stuff happen to them, but often small business owners and creatives, artists and others who are doing something off the beaten path are hit with things (positive or negative) that are so out there, so unpredictable and unexpected. Can you share a crazy story from your journey?

One of the most significant moments in my real estate career occurred when I was introduced to a 90-year-old client who was looking to sell their stunning Santa Monica home.

This client’s retirement had long been in the rearview mirror, but they and their spouse were ready to downsize for a more manageable lifestyle.

When I rolled up to their place, I expected a bittersweet decision-making process. But guess what? This 90-year-old was basically the youngest soul ever! He and his wife were stoked about going to a single-story home and traveling more. It was a refreshing surprise.

Now, here’s the kicker. I usually don’t bring my listing package to the first meeting. I prefer connecting without a sales agenda. So, we chatted and toured their house full of memories.

During our conversation, I asked if they’d talked to their tax guy about potential capital gains taxes when selling the place. They hadn’t, which was a curveball.

I told them, “Hold up, we need to figure out the money stuff first.” Instead of rushing into a sale, we needed to get the lowdown on the taxes before diving in.

Two weeks later, their accountant dropped a bombshell – selling right then would hit them with some hefty taxes.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the commission on a $5 million sale and helping them buy a $2 million place would’ve been sweet. But at that moment, I was so relieved we hadn’t jumped into something that could’ve negatively impacted them.

That experience was a game-changer for me. I realized my true calling. It wasn’t just about closing deals; it was about helping people make wise real estate choices that safeguarded their financial futures. It was about ensuring that retirement was a time of joy, not financial stress.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to guide folks in California toward savvy real estate choices that lead to a worry-free retirement.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My path to the real estate biz was kinda bizarre… I became a real estate investor in 2002 and got my license in 2004 but didn’t pursue working as a realtor because I had a very successful event production company.

Like many folks, the pandemic was a turning point in my life. My event company was running on fumes and I wasn’t sure when or even IF large-scale events would ever be coming back.

I was scrambling and yeah, pretty much freaking the F out!

I called some of my realtor buddies that I had been referring my friends and family to over the years and told them about my situation and asked if they thought it might be a good idea for me to pivot to real estate and got a very enthusiastic YASSSSSS!

August of 2020 was a phenomenal time to come to the business and since a lot of the same skillsets for event production were needed for real estate, I took to it quickly.

I have always loved creating experiences for people and being an integral part of big and special moments in their lives.

Contracts, negotiations, deadlines, multiple moving parts, and personalities are second nature to me and I love that those skills allow me to make those big, special moments happen!

My brand is solidly focused on resilience. As a GenX who has had her fair share of life challenges, I can say that resilience is the one thing that has gotten me through to be able to help my fellow compatriots thrive at this stage of life by cultivating unique real estate strategies.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Growing my clientele has been a very interesting journey of self-discovery…

I wasn’t really sure what my niche might be and yet, my mentors and coaches kept telling me that I needed to clearly identify who my clients might be and what problems I could help them solve…

One day I was speaking with a client about strategies for retirement utilizing her current real estate portfolio and that’s when I realized that a lot of my clients are people around my same age who are looking for solutions to create an early retirement. The light bulb went on!

As a GenX person, I share a lot of the same concerns and family situations as my fellow GenX folks. We also share a lot of the same cultural references from music to tv shows and more. That epiphany has helped me to curate my marketing, messaging, and education directly to the heart of what makes our generation tick.

Of course, I work with lots of different generations, but by focusing on mine, I have been able to find a much more authentic voice and help to attract people who can relate to me on a visceral, heartfelt level.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I knew from the beginning of my real estate career that I would be leveraging video for my business. Coming from a performance background, it was a natural, but something I wasn’t quite prepared for was how many agents would come to me for coaching to get their own videos up and running.

So now, not only have I been able to help build relationships with clients using video on social media, I’ve also been able to create referral and revenue-sharing opportunities with other agents simply by taking the time to share some helpful information about how to show up on video.

I think this really showed me that one of the best things we can do to build our brand online is to offer solutions to people. You just never know who is gonna show up!

Contact Info:

• Website:  http://corsinorealestate.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CorsinoRealEstate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CorsinoRealEstate
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CorsinoRealEstate
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@corsinorealestate