Los Angeles is the only North American city to have hosted the Olympics twice. The beautiful Griffith Park is the second-largest urban park in California. Interestingly enough, Downtown LA is home to the largest concentration of government buildings and institutions after Washington, DC. The city of dreams has a very intense real estate game. The top five agents in Los Angeles ranked by sales volume sold a combined $3.22 billion of real estate in L.A. in 2019. That’s a 15% increase from 2018, when the top five agents sold a total of $2.8 billion, according to data compiled by the Business Journal.

This list contains 10 of the best real estate agents in Los Angeles. Real estate agents in this list have a strong familiarization with the complexities and unique challenges of buying and selling homes in Los Angeles. To consolidate this list, we considered a great number of agents, along with awards, accolades, and overall quality of each firm’s work history.

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home, we recommend speaking to past clients, as well as setting up a Zoom call with at least 3 real estate agents to see which one is the best fit. 

10) Ginger Glass

Website |(310) 927-9307 |[email protected]

Ginger is a licensed broker with Compass in California and a track record of more than 500 real estate deals. For the past 20 years, Ginger has been a licensed attorney in 6 states. She has served as counsel for the Trump Taj Mahal, Tropicana Casino-Resort in Atlantic City, and the Aramark Corporation. Ginger personally handles every aspect of the marketing and sale of a property and prides herself on an extraordinary work ethic and confidentiality of her clients.

Ginger has achieved many area record-breaking sales in Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Bel Air, Westwood, Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills, Brentwood, Palisades, and Cheviot Hills. Ginger’s listings range from $500,000 to $150 million.

9) Linda May

Website | (310) 492-0735 |[email protected]

Linda is a residential broker with Hilton and Hyland in Beverly Hills. Mastering the art of the deal defines Linda May, one of Los Angeles’s most dedicated and successful real estate brokers. With an outstanding reputation for representing the top echelon of the who’s who in the city, Linda has become the deal maker for hundreds of satisfied buyers and sellers in the luxury residential real estate market during her last 30 years in business. Linda represented the buyer of the $68.8 million sales of the late Brad Grey’s Holmby Hills house, and another marquee listing she had was Johnny Carson’s $65.2 million former Point Dume estate, owned by Sidney Kimmel.

A San Francisco native, Linda had plans to become an interior designer when a top real estate agent recognized her passion for houses and urged her to venture into real estate. Linda found that as a real estate broker she could seamlessly combine her passions: architecture, design, the arts, and people. She soon moved to Los Angeles, the city that became her adopted home, and redefined the luxury real estate market.

8) Drew Fenton

Website |(310) 858-5474 | [email protected]

With over $4 Billion in sales since 2007, Drew Fenton has had the honor and privilege of representing the most pedigreed and significant estates in Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills and Bel Air. Drew holds the record for the highest residential sale in the United States for the Chartwell Estate in Bel Air, which recently sold for $150,000,000. Drew listed and sold the Playboy Mansion, The Frances Brody Estate, Doheny Estate, and Rosewood in Bel Air. 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Drew at an early age came to appreciate fine design and period details. Specializing in significant estate properties, Drew has listed and sold over 50 properties in excess of $20M. Drew attended Harvard Westlake and USC, he has a collection of over 500 books on design and architecture. Regarded for his discretion and knowledge, Drew has a sales record that is unparalleled in the city. 

 

7) Sally Forster Jones

Website | (310) 579-2200 | [email protected]

Sally Forster Jones is one of the top real estate brokers in Southern California with Compass and has closed more than 5000 transactions totaling $7 billion in career sales. As founder and CEO of the Sally Forster Jones Group, she leads a successful real estate team that continues to set the bar for Los Angeles real estate. Under Sally’s leadership, the team has been a constant fixture on the REAL Trends “The Thousand” list, where it has ranked among the nation’s top real estate teams year after year. In 2019, the Sally Forster Jones Group was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Inman Golden I Club as the top luxury team in the nation. 

Sally’s landmark sales — including a $70 million estate to her client Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, and the Spelling Manor, which set the record for the highest-priced residential property listed for sale at the time. Valued for her luxury real estate expertise and insights, she has spoken on local and international panels and is frequently called upon by the media as an expert. She continues to provide broadcast interviews and guided tours of significant properties to CNBC, NBC LA, and CNN Money, among other television outlets.

6) David Offer

Website | (310) 820-9341 |[email protected]

David Offer has been building his real estate career for over 27 years with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. David’s unrelenting work ethic, his thorough knowledge of the marketplace, and his integrity have earned him an impeccable reputation in the industry. Not surprisingly, nearly 95% of David’s business comes from repeat clients or referrals from satisfied clients. David’s clients especially value his wise counsel concerning any situation that may arise in buying or selling a home and the up-to-date information he is able to provide them. Having completed over 950 transactions totaling in excess of just over 3.2 billion dollars, David is uniquely qualified to provide the finest representation in the industry.

David is the #1 producing agent in the United States in 2019 out of approximately 50,000 Berkshire Hathaway agents and the #1 producing agent in California in 2019 out of 7,875 Berkshire Hathaway agents.

5) Ernie Carswell

Website | (310) 345-7500 | [email protected]

Ernie Carswell is a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman in Beverly Hills. Ernie is one of the most accomplished and respected real estate agents in the industry today. With more than 25 years of experience in the business, Carswell’s extensive roster of satisfied clientele includes the likes of Fortune 500 CEOs, professional entertainers, top studio executives, leading attorneys, government officials, ambassadors, and foreign dignitaries.

Ernie has been included in The Hollywood Reporter’s “Hollywood’s Top 25 Real Estate Agents” listing, in Variety’s feature on “Showbiz Real Estate Elite,” Billboard’s coverage of the “Top 15 Real Estate Agents Representing Musicians Today,” and was named the Top Real Estate Agent in California by Top Agent Magazine.

4) Chris Cortazzo

Website |(310) 457-3995 |

Chris Cortazzo is a real estate agent with Compass, specializing in Malibu where he was born and raised. “Malibu is the greatest place to live and work in the world,” he says. “My clients trust me because I know the market better than anyone. I understand the locations and the lifestyle each unique area provides.” Knowledge, passion, discretion, and integrity have been the undercurrents of his real estate business for over 25 years. His natural charisma, combined with his ability to be laser-focused on clients in a way that makes them feel like there is no one else in the room, are well-known trademarks.

With over $5 billion in sales, Chris has been widely hailed for his outstanding production and his market-making opinions, which are sought after by business and financial publications, and broadcast media.

3) Santiago Arana 

Website |(424) 231-2399 | [email protected]

Santiago Arana is part of a power trio that includes Billy Rose and Mauricio Umansky at The Agency where he joined in 2014 as Principal and Partner. Santiago spearheaded the company’s Westside expansion as Managing Partner of the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades offices. To date, he has closed over $3 billion worth of real estate, netting nearly $1 billion in sales volume in 2017 and 2018 alone. Ranked the #8 real estate agent in the country, Santiago Arana has closed billions of dollars worth of real estate across Los Angeles, taking his place among the most distinguished professionals in the industry. 

Renowned for his record-breaking sales throughout L.A., Santiago’s most notable recent sales include 568 N. Tigertail ($23 million) and 565 N. Tigertail ($22.7 million)—both of which were double-ended sales built by Cutting Edge Developments, Santiago’s development company. Originally from Sucre, Bolivia, Santiago’s international background has helped build him a strong network of contacts from every corner of the globe. As a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades with his wife and two sons, Santiago has an intimate knowledge of the Westside community. 

 2) Josh & Matt Altman

Website |(310) 819-3250| [email protected]

Josh & Matt Altman are some of the most successful real estate agents on the planet, specializing in the luxury housing markets of Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Malibu, and The Hollywood Hills. The Altman clientele consists primarily of A-list celebrities, professional athletes, business leaders, and high net worth individuals from around the globe. The Altman Brothers have sold over $3 billion worth of real estate including dozens of records. At any given time, the Altman Brothers have over 1 billion in active listings. They are ranked the #12 Real Estate Team in the U.S. by The Wall Street Journal and among the Top 20 Teams in the country the past several years. The Altman Brothers also continue to win viewers’ hearts as co-stars of the hit Bravo TV real estate reality series, “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.”

 

1) Josh Flagg

Website | (310) 623-870 | [email protected]

Josh Flagg is one of America’s most successful and sought after luxury real estate agents, having completed more than two billion dollars in residential real estate sales in the past decade. As of 2015, Flagg has become the number one volume agent in Los Angeles and the number two agent in sales in California.

With over a decade’s worth of high-end deals in the real estate industry, Josh Flagg has taken the Los Angeles real estate market by storm. Flagg, who has sold well over two billion dollars’ worth of property, is amongst the top five real estate agents in Los Angeles. Flagg has represented the likes of many American billionaire families such as the Gettys and Debartolos. He has also sold homes to the likes of Adam Levine, Shonda Rhimes, and Steve Aoki. His record-selling achievements include the sale of a style icon and Los Angeles socialite Betsy Bloomingdale’s Holmby Hills estate for $40,000,000 as well as the two highest-priced pieces of land in the 500 block of Beverly Hills history. 

About Our Rankings

This list takes a range of ranking criteria into consideration, including but not limited to: work history, customer satisfaction, awards and recognition, geographic area of work, cost, building permits, and clientele. We spent over 40 hours researching local real estate agents before calculating the final ranking for this post.