Above, Angela Rastellini
Angela Rastellini
Broker of Record – Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island; Vice President of Transactions Management
Lamacchia Realty
Waltham, Massachusetts
https://www.lamacchiarealty.com
Region served: New England and South Florida
Years in real estate: 17
Number of offices: 24
Number of agents: 750
Favorite part of your job: Helping people solve problems.
Your bio notes a particular focus on compliance. How have the past few years changed the way you go about teaching and enforcing compliance?
Having recently attended a training focused on ways to avoid lawsuits, with an emphasis on disclosure, representation and related compliance issues—I would say that when the commission-related lawsuits emerged, we spent a lot of time on just that: creating forms, documents and disclosures.
Most recently, there have been several new laws introduced in Massachusetts—one where sellers have to allow buyers the right to have a home inspection in addition to a rental fee change where you can only be paid by the person that hired you. Each of these updates required new documentation and extensive education for Massachusetts agents. They’ve thrown a lot of curveballs, so you have to be able to adapt on the fly.
You also have a strong focus on office expansion. Would you say now is the time to pursue growth—in terms of offices and/or number of agents? Why or why not?
We’re always looking to expand, but it has to make sense for the business. We’ve acquired quite a few companies over the past few years, each with its own challenges and way of doing things, which we keep intact for a period of time before making changes. That said, we’re always looking for additional opportunities in the market.
Historically, we’ve spent a significant amount of time training new agents, but as we’ve become more successful, we’ve shifted our focus toward investing in and developing our existing agents—but we’re beginning to bring on new agents again.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to advance their real estate careers—whether that means becoming a successful agent or growing into a leadership role?
I’ve experienced both paths firsthand. When I started at Lamacchia Realty, while we operated under a team model, I handled thousands of real estate transactions—a unique setup that has proven to be invaluable in my current role.
While hard work is essential, having been in those situations allows me to coach agents through the challenges they’re faced with. In many cases, I’ve been in their shoes, so it helped to have that experience before taking on a higher role.
Tell us what it means to be part of Lamacchia Realty?
I joined the company when it was still very small, and it’s been amazing to see just how much it has grown over the 17 years that I’ve been here. Being part of senior leadership and helping people grow while navigating challenging situations has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
I’m also proud of our culture. People doubted that we’d be able to maintain it as we grew, but we’ve proven that we can. Our agents genuinely support one another, so there’s no “just-in-it-for-myself” environment and mentality here. Plus, with Broker/Owner and CEO Anthony Lamacchia at the helm—leading by example by putting in the hours—it sets the tone for the entire organization. The harder our agents work, the harder Anthony works for us.
For more information, visit https://www.lamacchiarealty.com.
