In her twenties, Cari was determined to climb the corporate ladder, so she moved to Boulder County at age 23 to do just that. However, as many people know, corporate careers can be incredibly stressful. As Cari approached her thirties, she began looking for a stress reliever. Being surrounded by a great cycling community, she picked up a bike, tried a race and absolutely loved it. The next thing she knew, she had quit her corporate job and spent her thirties as a professional cyclist representing the USA around the world at the highest level of competition.
Cari likes to break her life into decades: her late teens were spent playing soccer at The University of Alabama, her twenties were all about her corporate career, her thirties were all about bike racing, and her forties (and she hopes beyond) have been all about real estate.
Even though she wouldn’t become a real estate agent until after her cyclist career, she has worked in the real estate industry with her husband ever since they moved to Boulder County. Cari and her husband renovate and repurpose old houses, aver-aging about two a year at this point. However, they are not flippers. When they upgrade a house, it’s much deeper than a coat of paint and new carpet (hence the two houses per year). While Cari raced, she also ran the backend of the business doing property evaluations and project estimates. Now she is the duo’s real estate agent.
When it comes to real estate, Cari is very much a Boulder County person. Whether her client has a $350,000 budget to buy or is selling a $5 million estate, she loves explaining the uniqueness of the Boulder County real estate market. She enjoys working with a variety of personalities and the challenges of meeting the needs of people with different budgets and life stages. Plus, Cari feels this variety is what keeps her knowledge fresh.
When Cari first ventured into real estate, she was lucky to get to work for John and Lee Kidder. “They were like my parents in the real estate world,” she says, “And we’ve been family ever since.” Now she’s added a new member to that real estate family: Kristin Kalush. Cari and Kristin recently formed a business partnership at
Compass. “I’m very lucky to have a trusted partner,” Cari says. The two women joined forces once they realized they cultivate a similar relationship with clients and approach the real estate business in the same way. They both strive to be the most trustworthy person in the room.
Cari is excited about the changes in the real estate market and says, “We’ve been in a whirlwind where no one can stop and breathe. I’m excited to be able to conduct business in a different way.” Even though the market is calming, it isn’t slow. “Boulder is a very desirable place to live and attracts people from all over the world for the type of lifestyle that is our reality here ... As a community, we need to embrace what they bring with them: culture, art, etc.,” she says. Houses in Boulder County will always change hands; it’s just the approach to buying and selling that shifts. Cari
is looking forward to a normalized market, so she can really dig into the relationships with her clients more.
When she isn’t working, Cari still loves riding any form of bicycle. Mountain trails, velodrome, commuting, it doesn’t matter as long as she’s cycling. In particular, she feels blessed to be able to walk out her front door and go for a ride or look out the window and see other people biking and walking on the dirt roads north of Boulder. And she’s still heavily involved in the local cyclist community. Cari is the Vice Chairman of USA Cycling, a founder and on the board of Break the Cycle (an organization that raises funds for bicycles and clean water in Africa), and on the board of Cyclists for Community, C4C (an organization that advocates for safer roads and bikeways in Boulder County).
In particular, Cari enjoys being on the planning community for C4C’s Wednesday Morning Velo. At 6:30 on Wednesday mornings, hundreds of people meet to bike together. At first, Cari thought of the event as an excellent networking opportunity. Then she
learned what these cyclists are doing to enhance the safety of multi-modality transportation in Boulder County. Now her participation isn’t about what she gets out of C4C but about helping them advocate for the community of cyclists and their safety.
Cari will do anything she’s invited to do outdoors, from drinking coffee in the sunshine to biking in the mountains. In particular, she loves joining her husband and two rottweilers on casual morning hikes. She says, “I’m one of the luckiest people in the whole world because I get to actually live here [Boulder County] and love sharing that passion with others.”
You can reach Cari Higgins at 303-717-9934 or cari.higgins@compass.com.
I’m one of the luckiest people in the whole world because I get to actually live here [Boulder County] and love sharing that passion with others.
CaribecameourRealtorofchoiceveryquicklywhenwewerelookingforaColoradohomewhilenotcurrentlylivingintheState.Carihasaunique energyandmotivatedspiritthatledtomefeelinglikeshewassomeonewhowantedtohelpusandcouldhelpus-shequicklyvalidatedourthoughts whenshevisitedbothhomesthatwewereinterestedinpurchasingrightaway;withindaysofushavingcoldcallsonthephone.Thatsaysalot-then shecombinedthatsupportiveattitudewithdeepneighborhoodandpropertyspecificknowledge.Wefeltsupportedthewholewaythrough…allthe wayuptoclosingandevenafterwardswhensheofferedtolookafterournewhomeduringtherecentcoldsnap.WearegratefulforCari!
-JonathanVanhornWeworkedwithCaritosellourhomeinLafayette,COandcouldnothavemadeabetterchoice!Shehadalotofknowledgeofthelocalmarket,was verypersonable,andprofessional.Herandherteam'sattentiontodetailwhenitcametostagingandmarketingwereinvaluableingettingourhouse sold!WouldrecommendhertoeveryonelookingforaRealtorinBoulderCounty.
-sandipugatch
Cariwasthorough,professional,andwewereabletofindtheperfecthomethatwasintherightpricerangeandlocation.Sheisrelentlessinlooking forgoodopportunitiesandconnectingmetopainters,andothercontractorswhohavebeenabletomaketheadjustmentstomyhomebeforemovein. Iwouldhighlyrecommendhertoanyone!
-SueEthelHendersonCarihasincredibleattentiontodetailandwasalwaysavailableforus.ShehelpedusbuyandsellourhomeinColorado(wemovedoutofstate)andwe couldn'tbehappier.Bothtransactionsoccurredinverychallengingmarkets.Wehadtobuyatthepeakandthenhadtosellwhenthemarketwas dippingbackdown.Bothtimesshegaveusexcellentadviceandwasabletoensuretheprocesswentquicklyandsmoothly,evenwithunexpected/ unusualcircumstances.Shegoesaboveandbeyondtoadvocateforherclientsandissupereasytoworkwith.Cariisacutabovetherest.
-TiffanyPezzulo