Meet Chelsea Harold // Denver Realtor
Chelsea Harold will tell you she's not a realtor—at least not right away. She'll tell you about the communities she's built, the daughters she's raising, and the farm (complete with goats, chickens and ducks) she somehow ended up living on.
She's been building things for women since 2010, and has spent years growing a real estate team she's never once had to recruit for. She'll also say the quiet parts out loud about the Denver market that most agents won't touch. Chelsea’s known not to sugarcoat things, and if you ask us, it’s one of her (many) superpowers.
Tell us who you are in just a few words or sentences.
I'm Chelsea, and I consider myself a girl's girl through and through. I lead an all-women real estate team at Harold Homes, plus a digital + IRL community called Colorado Girl Gang. I’m mom two little girls, and we live on a farm with goats, chickens, ducks, and one very cute rescue pup.
You've got a lot going on. How do you introduce yourself when someone asks what you do?
Super low key; I don't want to be a walking billboard. I usually mention Colorado Girl Gang and the mom stuff first, because that's what I'm most proud of: the community I built and the little humans I made. The farm comes up too, because people genuinely can't believe I have goats. Honestly, neither can I. I love using my additional platform, New2TownDENVER, to shine a light on local businesses I actually love. And THEN, eventually, real estate.
How’d you end up in real estate? What did the first couple of years actually look like?
I'd graduated with a business degree, and my mother-in-law, who'd been in real estate for decades, was about to give it up and move to Hawaii. My husband's pitch to her was: instead of selling your book of business, let Chelsea help. I really didn't think this would be the end-all-be-all for me. But I got my license, she left, and I took over.
The parts that didn't make it onto Instagram: Me googling how to be a realtor. I was mostly on my own, and real estate school taught me basically nothing. It was a gritty start, but I learned a ton. Eventually my mother-in-law came back, I stuck with it, and we finally changed the brokerage name, because I was so tired of explaining that I wasn't Melissa from “Colorado Homes by Melissa.”
Tell us about Colorado Girl Gang. What was the goal in launching it? How has it evolved
CGG has my whole heart. The goal in launching it was to fill a gap in the community.
Back in 2010, before Facebook groups really took off, I started a nonprofit for fellow Marine Corps wives and girlfriends. We grew it to a chapter in nearly every state and two overseas. I did in-person meetings and learned a ton, but military life moves people around constantly, so eventually it dissolved. Then, I started Denver Boss Babe Collective with a friend at the time. The thinking was: there's so much to know as an entrepreneur, and together we could grow and learn. That ran its course and got passed on.
When I looked back on both of those, I realized I'd always built around what I knew and wherever I happened to be in life, and by doing that, I kept missing huge parts of the community. What about the 9 to 5 girlies? The mamas? I had no idea I'd one day be a mom myself, and since having kids, I see it even more clearly that women need community. It's hard for us, because we all have so much on our plate, but at least we always have this place online.
I have worked SO hard to make it a space with minimal drama and room for every woman, at every walk of life. I actually think it's at another pivot right now—figuring out how to maintain this space and bring us together in real life, all while juggling everything else.
Walk us through the decision to build your team. What has that looked like in practice, and what do you look for in your team members?
When I got pregnant, I wasn't sure how I could keep doing this job without more help. Before babies, I'd be in the car all day, working all over the state, ex: Denver, Colorado Springs, Evergreen, Fort Collins, and back to Denver. I had no idea what life would look like, but I knew it couldn't be that anymore.
So I put the word out in Colorado Girl Gang for a very specific kind of gal, and I got exactly one response, which was the intention. That was Jaclyn. After a while, we realized we should officially become a team, and the girls voted on the name Harold Homes.
I have never recruited; I don't run things like a typical real estate company, so I'm not for the typical realtor. And that's exactly how I work with my clients too.
What's been the hardest part of the shift from solo agent to manager?
I don't know that "hard" is the right word. It's been overwhelmingly positive, and more than anything it's forced me to grow as a person.
If I had to name the real challenge, it's been learning about myself. I’ve learned I'm a quick, short communicator, very get-to-the-point, and for some people that can come across as cold, even when that's the last thing I intend. So a lot of this shift has been me learning how to motivate and support people in the way they actually need, not just the way that comes naturally to me.
At the end of the day, we're all our own bosses here, and I'm not managing anyone so much as I'm investing in them. Each of their wins genuinely matters to me, and that part has never felt like work.
Is there a moment in your career where you had to let go of how you thought things were going to go?
Absolutely. The moment I looked at my first baby, everything I thought I wanted just fell away. I didn't even have to “let go” of it.
Before her, I wanted to be number one. Then it quietly became a completely different question: how do I build something real and sustainable, something that supports my family while still giving me the time I want and need with my babies? Now my long-term dream is to make this a generational business, and something that supports our family for years.
The Denver market has been a lot to navigate over the last few years. What's your honest read on where things stand right now?
My honest take: it's hard and it's expensive to buy right now, there’s no sugarcoating that. But we've seen the market cool off and recalibrate after the COVID frenzy, and if you have a good team and an open mind, there are deals to be had. Buyers specifically have more negotiating power than they've had in years.
That said, this is not a buyer's market. We're nearly balanced, unless it's a total “cream puff”, the kind of house with the best location, price, and condition. Those still move fast and still get the competition.
I think a lot of buyers and sellers don't feel like they're getting that big "win" right now. But real estate is a long game, and the market is always going to ebb and flow. Homeownership has the power to build generational wealth if you're in it for the long haul.
What are you telling clients today that you weren't telling them two years ago?
Sellers, listen: two years ago you could throw a sign in the yard and pop champagne. Not anymore. Your house is going to sit, and your presentation matters more than you want to believe. Buyers have options now, so if your home isn't the ideal house at the ideal price in ideal condition, they will scroll right past you and keep looking.
And every week you sit, you net less. I'll say the quiet part out loud too: if you bought between 2020 and 2022, there's a real chance you're selling at a loss. Nobody wants to hear it, but you'd rather hear it from me than find out the hard way.
Buyers, on the flip side, have more options than they’ve had in years, and that's a genuinely good thing. But options don't come without compromises. Your budget is still your budget, and somewhere in there you're going to have to bend. I'll help you figure out where.
What are you reading, watching, or into right now outside of work?
TBH, I read a business or self-help book sporadically. Relentless by Tim Grover is on my nightstand, and it lights me up so much that reading it before bed completely backfires, ha. I'm also OBSESSED with Clarkson's Farm on Prime; just binged the latest season. Outside of that it's gardening, and praying my chickens don't eat my garden.
I'm also actively trying to figure out how to homeschool my girls, as if I didn't have enough on my plate. There are so many curriculum options I might genuinely cry. So if anyone has answers, my DMs are open.
What's something people wrongly assume about realtors?
That we just float around in cute outfits, unlock pretty doors, and collect a check. Here’s some stuff nobody sees: standing in a crawlspace watching a sewer scope; answering emails at 11pm; calling lenders with a baby on my hip and a coffee that went cold three hours ago. The actual job is part therapist, part project manager, part detective, and a lot of unglamorous problem-solving on behalf of people making the biggest financial decision of their lives.
I think that when people picture a realtor, they picture the HGTV version. My team and I are the version that's still working the deal long after the pretty part is over.
You do a lot. Team, community, social media, clients, farm, family. When does this version of your life not feel sustainable? How do you refocus when that happens?
Is it sustainable now? Ha. Truthfully, the only reason any of this works is my husband. I don't cook, he handles most of the farm, and when I'm drowning, I just tell him. He's the yin to my yang. He picks up the slack so I can pour into work and my community, and then we tackle the family stuff together. We've got his family nearby to help, too.
I don't always know when something is "too much," though, because I never grew up seeing what a balanced house looked like. My dad was disabled, and I've been working two jobs since I was 13 just to help pay the bills. So the question of "is this hard? is this too much?" doesn't really compute for me. It's just what you do. The difference now is that I'm not doing it alone, I've got Jake in my corner.
Where can we find you? Drop your links.
IG is the move and my DMs are always open: @chelsea.harold. And those local to CO, come hang with us in Colorado Girl Gang!
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