Ep. #22 | At Home with Courtney and Alicia

Courtney & Alicia @athomewithcourtneyandalicia are the best-friend duo behind The At Home Team, known for their candid, family-forward content and a partnership built on total transparency. Returning to Charleston's Leading Producers, they open up about what it actually takes to build a business — and a content presence — that feels real.

In this conversation, Courtney & Alicia reveal:

• Why bringing their kids into their marketing made their business more relatable — and more referable
• How a "best friends first, business partners second" partnership avoids the resentment most team splits run into
• The income-split system that removes every closing-day surprise before the transaction even starts
• Why "done is better than perfect" is the mindset shift that gets agents off the sidelines and onto camera
• The hard pricing and condition conversations agents are having with sellers in today's stalled market
• How new construction incentives are reshaping the way resale listings have to compete and get marketed
• Why a phone-recorded blooper outperforms a professionally produced reel — and what that means for your content strategy
• What it really takes to build the kind of trust that lets two agents combine finances and never look back

This is a real-talk conversation about partnership, authenticity, and showing up — even when it's not polished — for agents who are tired of waiting until everything feels ready.

Follow CLP: @charlestonsleadingproducers

Follow Courtney & Alicia: @athomewithcourtneyandalicia | YouTube: At Home with Courtney and Alicia

About Charleston's Leading Producers

Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We we can be honest with each other, we can talk to each other about everything, and know that we're not gonna hurt each other's feelings or take it too much to heart or whatever. We know the reason why we're talking about it is to to be better at what we do and and to work better together.

SPEAKER_05 0:19

And hey leaders, I'm Jake, a loan officer obsessed with business growth and finding out what's actually working in our market. If that sounds useful, hit follow. Now, this week's leader. One of the things that I really admire about the two of you is that you share a lot of personal things on social media as well as the business stuff. And I've been having conversations with agents lately, especially it's kind of a stressful market right now. Um, but you two really truly take time for your families, and you also share about taking time with your families there. So for agents that are struggling with balance right now, what do you do to make sure that you're carving out time for your family as well as growing your business?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Yeah, so uh I'm sure it's the same for you, but my son grounds me. So when I'm in an extremely stressful moment or feel like I just need, I just need a break, I just need a minute. I mean, playing games with my son and you know, just spending time with him is what kind of brings me back to center and makes me realize why I'm doing what I do for my family. And also bringing our children into some of our advertising and our marketing and making them be a part of our business is fun. It's fun for them, it's fun for us. And it kind of helps us to spend time with them while also showing a big part of our life, which is our children and our families. So kind of trying to bring business and personal together, um, I think just really shows what kind of not only realtors we are, but people and moms and women that we are as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

And do you feel like that even helps you connect with clients because they see you're an actual person?

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Definitely. Absolutely, yes. I mean, we a lot of our clients are moms or young families, or you know, they they can relate. And and even clients of ours who aren't moms or have young families, they think it's so fun to see our children and they say, Oh, they're so cute, and uh, you know, ask us questions about them. And it just, it's just kind of a fun talking point with clients as well.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

So yeah, even on like Saturday mornings, if we have showings or whatnot, we're like, we'll meet you around like 10 after T ball. After T Ball, and they're like, Oh, take your time, no rush. Then then we get there and they're like, How did it go? And so it's just fun. I mean, you know, we just it it really is fun, and the clients love it. So I even had um my son, I'm sure you've done this too, but on open house days, I've even had him in the car with me. And you know, my my husband there too, and he's my husband's getting out putting the signs out, and we're talk all talking about it, and oh, this is mommy's work. And I've even filmed him in front of the open house signs. I know you feel cozy in the forestale, but it yeah, just bringing them into it, let so they can see, oh, this is what mommy does, and there's a lot that goes into it, not just standing in a house all day.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

And so, yeah, and my son asks questions too, like, mommy, how did your clothing go today?

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Or, you know, what happened with this client, or I it's just kind of cute that they feel involved in it, and they feel special, so especially when we film them and we're like, Okay, you gotta say this, and buy the house with mommy, and they'll say that together. And the bloopers is us. We go back and look at those.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

I know from when they and it's yeah, it's just kind of fun too to see from when they were little and kind of talking in some of our original YouTube videos to now, it's just such a fun memories for sure.

SPEAKER_05 4:12

Yeah, and I I think real estate can be like the ultimate business training ground sometimes, you know, because it's so complex and there's so much involved. So to even just have conversations with your kids that young, they're gonna be learning like basic business principles through that. Um, and they're learning it organically too. So that's actually really cool. I hadn't really thought about that.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Definitely, yeah. Yeah, it's fun for them. And yeah, like you said, I mean, you never know, they're little sponges, they pick up on everything. Kind of the stuff that they're retaining someday will be fun to hear. And as far as us working together, I mean we work so well together. We are best friends first and business partner second. So, you know, we we can be honest with each other, we can talk to each other about everything, and know that we're not gonna hurt each other's feelings or take it too much to heart or whatever. We know the reason why we're talking about it is to to be better at what we do and and to work better together. And so, I mean, we've never even had like really a disagreement or anything. I mean, luckily we've um pretty much agreed on everything.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

And even if we don't, we can talk through it and um well it's nice because we're able to both bring ideas and you know, you're thinking something I might not be, and vice versa. And so it just it just works.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, we were just talking about this with our brokerage the other day. It's like if I don't know how I did this before Alicia, because to I don't either because I'm like, who did you vent to every I know to have someone to be like, you know, if we get worked up in a transaction or if we get, you know, we just need someone to get something off of our chest, and then we can go back to being calm and professional, but at least we can vent to each other, get it off our chest and say, Hey, should I say this? Should I reword it? Should I, you know, bite my tongue? Should I, you know, it's just kind of nice to to yeah, have that person to bounce ideas off of and um, you know, figure out the best path forward.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Yeah, because I mean there really is no playbook for real estate. I mean, a lot I was just telling Courtney this the other day. I'm like, you have to make so many decisions just on the cuss. Like was I mean, is there's not a right or wrong, but it's just the best way to handle it. And there's just so many decisions to make and you just don't always feel confident. You want to feel confident, but it's so this uh I just l love the fact that we have each other to to help either say no, don't do that, yes, do that. Like it just no, I can't guess I you know I just I really think even if you're a solo agent, we were just having a brokerage, like you should like you should have somebody in the you need a mentor, you need someone to talk to you're a broker, you need somebody that you you're able to go to as well. That you can depend on. I mean, somebody that like a backup or whatever it might be. I think everybody needs somebody. Right. Whether you're however you're structured, again, if you're just by yourself, you still need somebody to a go-to person that's you know involved in the business, not necessarily a best friend or your husband. I mean, yes, you can vent to them and things like that, but somebody truly in the business and knows it.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Right, who sees this every day.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yes, and can give you the you know professional advice.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 7:33

Yeah. I think what might hold some people back from doing a partnership like that is the idea that, you know, you're gonna have one other person that sees all of this financial information, you know, not only you know what you're producing, but the bottom line of that. And I think some people might be a little bit hesitant to be that vulnerable with another person. So, how were you two able to kind of cross that line and really have that trust established before you started combining forces and working together?

SPEAKER_00 8:10

I mean, I think we've gotten like more comfortable discussing our finances as time goes on. But like I said, I mean, we're best friends. So, like, I don't care what you know about mine.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

And I think if I think Corey has always kind of been an open book about it, he's like, you know, I did this and this, you know, and so it really made me feel comfortable. I like, I mean, I it's just I to me that was never an issue.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

We made uh like income production kind of spreadsheets and things, and we can see each other's and yeah, uh, you know, we we know our cuts of every transaction. And it's so important to have good communication between the two of you to know before a transaction, I get this percentage, you get this percentage, so that there's no arguing come closing time, there's no last minute surprises or or any disagreements of any sort. We know up front who's getting what, and then we work through the transaction and we get it to closing. So um, but yeah, I mean, you're my best friend. I don't care what you know about, but I could understand that for other people. And that's why I don't always feel like a partnership or a team is the best fit for everyone. You know, it really depends on the two individuals or multiple individuals that are going to be a part of the team. It it really depends on them because I've been a part of a team before and it didn't work out, it wasn't for me. So to have this partnership be so successful is because of the person that I'm working with, um, as opposed to, you know, just who you mesh with the best and and who you who you can work with on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

And I think also being on the same level as far as work at work ethic and you know carrying your weight and correct. I think that's a big part of it as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

I know I know that I can trust her. Like if I tell her to do something, I know it's gonna get done. Yeah. And that's so important because I am very much a type A, I like things done, you know, in a very, very certain way. I asked my husband. And um, you know, and we've learned how each other works. And so um, yeah, I I don't know. I just feel like I I can trust you with anything.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Yeah, and Courtney will be talking about like, oh my gosh, I have all this going on. I'm like, okay, I'm that's why I'm here. Like, that's why, you know, you brought me on. Like, what can I do to help? Like, you know, so I'm always about like, I don't want you to have all that stress. Like, what can I do to to alleviate some of that? Or and I mean sometimes I can't. There might be things that I just can't do because she's you know involving the transaction or whatnot. But you know, we're again that that was the goal too, to have somebody help cover and you know, if somebody's out of town and you know, be being able to pick that slot, but you know, having I mean, we always say like you're getting two a two for one with us, right? Like you're gonna, especially on listings and things like that. So we're both working to help get the home sold.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

And yeah, and we've kind of just recently started really combining listings. So whether it's a listing she brought on or I brought on, this is our percentage, and this is how we're gonna do it. And you know, then we just share the tasks to get it listed. So we just recently started doing that before we had them a little bit more separated. Um, but we just felt like this was easier because listings are so a bit a challenge right now with this market.

SPEAKER_05 11:38

Yeah, yeah. Well, that was really beautifully put. I think there's gonna be some people listening that are very jealous of the uh relationship that you two have. Like it's really cool to hear that. And you can hear just kind of not only how passionate you two are about your business, but doing it together and having that, I think is really unique. So you guys have found something that I I don't think a lot of people will will fall into. Yeah. Um, but let's talk about some of those challenges. You mentioned um challenging listings right now, but I'm kind of curious, yeah, is there some hard conversations that you're having with clients right now? Um, and what are those, what are those hard conversations and how are you two navigating them?

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Yes, a lot of hard conversations. I feel like buyers are maybe starting to see a little bit more that interest rates aren't going to be these low numbers that maybe they were holding off and hoping for last year uh anytime soon, maybe not in our lifetime, who knows? Um, so buyers are coming back into the into the picture. I mean, they're coming back into the market, but uh we do still have some expectations from sellers that they're gonna get this certain, this certain price without having to put in a certain amount of work or effort or upgrades or updates or whatever. So it it's hard conversations. You never want to hurt someone's feelings, but your um your goal and their best interest is to be honest with them and to tell them what needs to be done to get their home sold. Because we see a lot of homes and we see what our fire clients are saying and what feedback we're getting. And we know what a home what standard a home can be to to get sold. And like if a home is hitting a lot of um a lot of um showings but no offers, then it's probably a condition issue, or maybe it backs to a busy code or something, then you need to take that into account. Or if it's no showing, then it's a pricing issue, and you need to have that conversation with sellers. And you know, it it's tough conversations right now, just getting the two mindsets to meet.

SPEAKER_05 14:11

Yeah, it's interesting. You mentioned the buyer and the seller side, and obviously I work on the buyer side, um, but it's almost like buyers have the mindset of you know, they want the lower interest rates and they want, you know, lower monthly mortgage payments, but then on the other side, sellers are wanting their homes to sell in a week, and it's like neither one of these things is true right now. So, really, neither side is really satisfied with the market right now. So, when I had you guys on before, um, you shared some really great insights for YouTube. So, when somebody or for somebody who's getting started and a little bit nervous about getting on YouTube, because it seems like that's where a lot of the um a lot of the attention from from potential buyers is going, is to YouTube. Um what advice do you have for somebody to get over that hurdle of nervousness? Because it is hard getting on video and recording yourself and saying something that feels logical and looking good and doing all of these things. So that initial hurdle, you guys, it feels like you've cleared it. So if you have some advice for we don't always feel that way about that live. If you have some advice for getting on video, what would it be for newer agents starting out?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

I would say record with someone that you're comfortable with. I mean, if you need to have a best friend or a family member or somebody record you that you know that you feel comfortable with rather than just a random company or you know, hiring an out or someone, I would say start a little bit smaller, record with someone you feel good and comfortable with, or a tripod. Or a tripod, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

But you want to put it up if you want to do it by yourself and know how to, you know, pop up and do a tripod. And one thing that I mean, there are a lot of like tips and tricks and things you can do. One thing recently I used Cap Cut a lot to edit videos, and I actually ended up paying for it for a year just because there's so many more, you know, the with the pro, you just get a lot more options and it's just very, very basic with when you don't pay. Yeah. So that's so it's been beneficial. But one of the things is you can actually it lets you like put in a script and it comes up and it's like as you're looking at the the come the camera and it's and you can even say, like, I'll go into chat and put in what I'm saying, and then I'll tweak it and then I'll put it in that. But I was able to like be at an open house and the home that we're selling, and I was able to talk about it and feel good about it, and I was able to like filter it and make it look a little bit better than I might have looked that day.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I obviously don't want to sound too scripted or read like directly, but it is nice to have like a prompt or um, you know, some something to give you ideas, especially in the beginning. Hard to come off the cuff with things.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Uh and just try to sound as natural as you can. And just I think just the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll be. You just gotta you just gotta honestly just do it and know that you're gonna mess up. I mean, that's why we like to be able to edit. We do mess up, and that's why we have our bloopers at the end. So you gotta watch the.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Yeah, and that's that's another good point, is that at the end we try and just once again try and be more relatable and funny and show that we're humans that make mistakes. And so we'll throw in a blooper section at the end just so people can laugh at us and we can laugh at ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Yeah, I mean, it is it's very comical. So, but yeah, I would say just do it. I mean, just do it, start however you need to start that you're comfortable. And I think is the more you do it, the more comfortable you get.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

And it's I don't understand why more people aren't doing like I don't want to give away because this is kind of our bread and butter. I don't want to give this to my people, but I don't understand why more people aren't, because it's free, like other than maybe a small cap cut subscription. I use um iMovie, which is free on my computer. I don't get it. I mean, it's free, it's free advertising and people are watching. Like that's how people are finding us, and uh, that's how we get a good good chunk of our business. Now it's become a lot of uh referral-based and uh past clients turnover and things like that. But uh in the beginning, I mean, I was like mostly YouTube and social media, so yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:42

And YouTube is now feeding, yeah. YouTube is now feeding AI. So a lot of um, like if somebody goes in and searches on ChatGPT or Claude, those AI are actually pulling from YouTube and not from social media right now. So I think it's gonna be even YouTube's becoming like the number one source for people who are looking for realtors and loan officers. Um, so we're only gonna have to lean into this more.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Yeah, yeah. It's hard to always find time too, because I need to get in my brain that done is better than perfect, but I I like to have videos edited really well. And you know, we we do it all ourselves. We don't hire out a social media company. I know a lot of agents do, and that's great, but we just feel like we want to have that control over the videos. And uh, but it's time consuming. And in this busy spring market, it's hard. So, like today, for example, we're gonna record a bunch of like shorts and and videos and then just stockpile them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

We pick days where like, we're like, okay, we're we've got a lot of work. We're dressed up, we're not in like film today. But yeah, it's also like setting our calendar and you know, figuring out, okay, this is what we have going on and what we need to do and just prioritizing. Block in some time for it.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Cause yeah, I mean, you you get busy just in your day-to-day work tasks in life that making time to make videos is challenging, but it's so good for your business. And it's just good for you as an agent as well. We've met so many new construction sales agents that way. You know, we'll go to neighborhoods and introduce ourselves and say, Hey, would you mind being on camera for two minutes just talking about your product? And we're driving through the neighborhoods, recording them. So we're learning the neighborhoods and the HOA fees and you know, where they're located, and so that we have those neighborhoods in our head for example.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Things you really need to know anyway.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

So and yeah, so it's kind of a yeah, it's definitely definitely.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

I was just gonna say, instead of us like spending our time like cold calling, things like that, we spend our time on marketing and videos and things that we know have worked. Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

So again, yeah, you know, everybody kind of has their thing. And it's warmer leads, it's people who have reached out to us because they found us as opposed to us reaching out to someone and saying, like, hire me from Joe Schmo, you know, it's it's it just works for us.

SPEAKER_05 21:26

I found too, it helps me articulate my ideas so much more, too, because when I'm practicing, like it's hard to stare at a camera and say something cleanly all the way through. But when you go through the reps of that, you know, then you get on the phone with a client, it's actually a little bit easier. You know? So it helps you just be more articulate, be more confident whenever you're speaking. Um, and yeah, but you you hit the nail on the head. Like if somebody's not doing it right now, especially three to five years from now. It's going to be really hard, I think, to have continued success without it. But you guys are ahead of the game. You started three to five years ago.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

So the end of 21, beginning of 22, I think is when I made some of my first videos. And they're don't go back and look at them. They are not great. Um but you just gotta do it. But you just have to do it. And then you learn and your editing gets better, and you get better on camera, and um, you know, it's it it grows. Um, I almost feel like I wish I would have done it sooner, but I didn't I started real estate the end of 2021. So, you know, I kind of missed that COVID um era. Um yeah, I mean, I feel like I was one of the earlier agents to do it in, especially in the Somerville market.

SPEAKER_05 22:50

Well, and and that's the hard part is you do have to go through this process of where it's not good because you're gonna start and it's not gonna be, it's not gonna look like you know, the guys that I watch, Alex Hermozy and Gary V, who've been doing it for 10, 15 years and are really great at it. So you do have to go through that very painful process in the beginning. Um, but like you said, I don't think there's any other way.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah. And that we, I mean, we see all these like beautifully done professional videos, and yeah, they're great, but we prefer a more authentic approach. Uh, us recording with our cell phones, us doing all the work and editing, us being on camera. Um, you know, we just prefer that authenticity as opposed to hiring the workout. Nothing wrong with either one, but that's just our what works for us and and us having control over it and um, you know, really get getting a say in what the final product looks like.

SPEAKER_05 23:51

Yeah. You mentioned new builds. I want to get into this a little bit. Um, just a couple quick thoughts. The main thing that I'm curious about new builds is right now, you guys work a lot with new builds. What is different in this new build market as compared to even just one year ago?

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Um, I would say incentives. I mean, builders are offering incentives, which I mean they they were to an extent last year, too, but they're just really realizing how cash-strapped buyers are or how uh high the interest rates are and the home purchase prices. I mean, yeah, our parents and and things will talk about well, my interest rate was 17%. Yeah, but your home cost three blueberries. Like it's a different time, you know? So now we've got the high prices and the the high interest rates.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

So um And that's the thing they talk about if the rates do drop, the prices are likely gonna go up.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

So what yeah, and I mean there are so many yeah, there are so many benefits of new construction, and then there's also some um maybe cons or like a little bit more negatives of new construction. So uh, you know, it's just important to point those out, and that's why it's important to have a realtor when working uh in or when considering new construction, um, so that we can guide you and and point out those things.

SPEAKER_05 25:34

Yeah, you guys nailed it. Number one thing, you know, with almost every loan application is out of pocket costs right now. It's such a struggle, especially for first-time home buyers. Even if you're young and you have a decent job, you know, so many people have thrown so much at student debt. Um, and it's just it's really hard to save up a solid 3%, you know. So luckily we have some options, you know, to help people out like that. But um, you're you're right, and that the new builds have identified that and uh found some strategic ways to uh to get around some of that.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Yeah, and I mean when we are selling resales, we have to compete with new constructions. So we have to kind of take almost what what's working for them and what they're doing and try to apply it to a resale if we can to make it attractive, uh, because there are a lot of pros to new constructions. So um, yeah, I mean it's also just kind of that that competition aspect too.

SPEAKER_05 26:37

Yeah. Cool. I want to wrap us up on this. There's been a lot of great stuff in here. I appreciate you guys taking a few minutes to to come on and let me ask you questions. Um, but my last question is when people in our industry and our Somerville market think of the at-home team with Courtney and Alicia, what do you want people in in our industry to say about the two of you?

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Um, we in our industry, we want to be good cooperating agents. So like they're like we want people to say they are great to work with. Yeah. We really enjoy working with them. When they see our name on the other side of the the transaction, they're like, okay, great, this is gonna be, you know, not easy. Nothing in our industry, especially this year, is easy. Everything has been but uh, you know, they'll say that they're hard workers and that they're problem solvers. You know, we we want to get to the closing table and we want to help our clients and make it as smooth as possible. Uh you know, we we're we're gonna do whatever it takes to get to that, and we want our the people working with us to understand that and to know that and that we're really fun.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

We like to make this business fun and as fun as we can. It is a heavy industry, especially this year.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

I mean, it's emotionally draining for us. I am five months pregnant and you know, feeling all the the things and and the industry is um it's it's it's tough sometimes emotionally. So it's tough on us, it's tough on our clients. So um just trying to to make it as fun and lighthearted as we can in such a challenging market. Um that's kind of a goal of ours.

SPEAKER_05 28:38

That is a great answer. I love that. It's amazing. Um, if anybody's listening wants to reach out to the two of you and get in touch, how can they do that?

SPEAKER_00 28:49

You can find us on YouTube at home with Courtney and Alicia. We have a Facebook page, we have Instagram, TikTok, TikTok, all the things. So um definitely check out our YouTube though. That's like I said, kind of our bread and butter, and and we have a lot of fun with it. Watch the bloopers.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

Love it. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Hi, thank you.

SPEAKER_05 29:18

Thanks for listening to Charleston's Leading Producers Podcast. Could you take a moment to hit subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening on? That allows this show to grow and bring you more of the top of the line producers and business leaders. And if you think these stories will help someone you know, please share this with them. New episodes every Wednesday. I'm Jake Cummings. See you next week.