Hollywood’s Top 30 Real Estate Agents 2022 – The Hollywood Reporter

After the banner year of 2021, L.A.’s high-end real estate market is seeing challenges, including some softening of prices, continued low inventory and rising interest rates (an average 30-year fixed mortgage rate today is about 5.8 percent compared with about 2.9 percent a year ago). “It will take some time for buyers to acclimate to the interest rate increases; it’s all cyclical,” says Hilton & Hyland’s Justin Paul Huchel. But for L.A.’s top agents, these setbacks are an opportunity to refocus on a core value: finding clients their perfect home. Despite the market softening, agents profess that they aren’t worried. According to Redfin, the median sale in Beverly Hills still clocks in at $3.8 million, up 15.4 percent from last year. And agents aren’t hurting financially, either. Although marketing, staff and office space must be factored in, many of the area’s highest-performing agents can expect to make $5 million to $10 million a year (according to one person on this list), while those on the rung below net $2 million to $5 million. For the 2022 list of the top 30 agents in L.A., THR considered sales volume, MLS-listed sales to Hollywood clients and media visibility to make its selections. (Info on celebrity sales and clients is sourced from public records unless otherwise noted.)

JOSH AND MATT ALTMAN

DOUGLAS ELLIMAN

One of the rare teams to sell more than $1 billion a year, brothers Josh and Matt Altman of Million Dollar Listing: L.A. fame recently sold Rams coach Sean McVay’s Hidden Hills estate for $14 million, Milla Jovovich’s Beverly Hills compound for $13.4 million, and Britney Spears’ Calabasas estate for $11.8 million. They also represented Scooter Braun, whose purchase of a newly-built $65 million mansion set a record-high for Brentwood. The Douglas Elliman duo started out in the entertainment industry, flipping homes as a hobby — and then fell in love with the business. “Working with my brother is sort of the ultimate family dream, both for your parents and for each other,” Matt says. ”The one thing I know, and one thing we can count on every day is we always have each other’s backs.” The Altmans, who have sold more than $5.5 billion over their careers, note a growing interest in the Encino area, and also the impact COVID had on people’s interest in creating a comfortable home. “COVID was a horrible time,” Matt says. “But it gave people the opportunity to see that the most important thing is family and their home, and therefore, that’s why we saw so much business.” Current big listing: Full House creator Jeff Franklin’s $60 million mansion.

SANTIAGO ARANA

THE AGENCY

The Agency’s Santiago Arana, who sold $581 million in the past year, repped former Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff in the purchase of Matt Damon’s $18 million Palisades spread and and sold tv exec Kevin Reilly’s home in Mandeville Canyon for $9 million. “With the high-profile individuals, you’re dealing with business managers, attorneys, a lot of people who work with them, which can become a challenge. But it’s also great, right? It opens up doors,” he says, adding “I love architecture. I love houses, and I love the fact that it’s a career that the sky is the limit.”

ROCHELLE ATLAS MAIZE

NOURMAND & ASSOCIATES

For Nourmand & Associates’ Rochelle Atlas Maize, real estate is a second career which started out as a hobby and has become a multi-million-dollar juggernaut. “I was a wealth adviser specializing in commodity and stock trading, so totally a numbers person — it was an intense career,” she says. “Real estate has allowed me to use the other side of my brain … the creative side and the marketing side.” But she still applies her financial expertise and considers herself a “real estate wealth adviser.” She recently represented the sellers of Kirk Douglas’ Beverly Hills estate — which had 31 offers and went for $9.015 million, $1.5 million above asking — and represented The Abbey owner David Cooley in his $4.425 million purchase of Emma Stones cliffside Malibu home. To date she has sold over $3 billon in real estate, not bad for someone who got into the business as a second career. “I was like, ‘What the hell, I’m just going to try this,’” she says. “And I did.” In August, she also represented the seller of an estate in Beverly Hills bought by Neil Diamond for $12 million ($1 million over asking).

FRED BERNSTEIN

WESTSIDE ESTATE AGENCY

A Westside Estate Agency partner, Fred Bernstein is helping casino mogul Steve Wynn find a buyer for his $100 million Beverly Hills estate. He also just sold a Beverly Hills estate that once belonged to power broker Lew Wasserman’s daughter for $35.5 million. Bernstein also was one of the brokers who worked with DJ and music producer Zedd on his $15.2 million purchase of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s mansion in Encino last fall and represented Participant’s Jeff Skoll in the $33 million sale of two side-by-side homes in Beverly Hills to Byron Allen.

BLAIR CHANG

THE AGENCY

An agent for 22 years (after a career in advertising), Blair Chang is a co-founder of The Agency and, following in the footsteps of his mother, is a second-generation realtor. With $166 million in sales in the past year, he repped the seller in Scooter Braun’s $65 million purchase, the second biggest on-market deal of the last 12 months. The property was only on the market for 10 days. However, in 2022, Chang has noticed a dearth of appropriate “sanctuaries” for his wealthiest clients. “The challenge has been finding a one-of-a-kind product that’s just so magical that they have to have it.” The magic was in full effect when one buyer recently told Chang that he bought a property quickly because “I knew one of my friends also wanted the house.”

IKEM CHUKUMERIJE

THE IKEM COMPANY

“I love that I work with some of the world’s most creative and talented minds in the world of sports and entertainment,” says The Ikem Company’s Ikem Chukumerije. “Whether it’s a 1 million or 10 million deal, everyone is treated as our VIP.” In the past year, he has done $71 million in sales and has repped LaKeith Stanfield, NBA player Lonzo Ball, former NBA player Richard Hamilton, and Terry Crews. “I own several properties and want each of my clients to experience the many benefits of homeownership,” he adds, noting that “Black people are falling behind in homeownership at just under 45 percent, even with home prices hitting all-time records. The single biggest vehicle for increasing wealth in this country is through homeownership.”

CHRIS CORTAZZO

COMPASS

“It is making buyers more circumspect in their purchases,” Compass’ Chris Cortazzo says of rising interest rates. “Where the client may have been looking at only one price range, they are now looking at various price ranges.” The Malibu specialist, who has sold more than $1 billion in the past 12 months, recently repped oceanside rental listings for Sandra Bullock and Rick Rubin, represented attorney Craig Cardon in a $4 million sale in Outpost Estates to Bullet Train director David Leitch, and was the co-listing agent on a house that Ted Sarandos and Nicole Avant sold in Malibu for $14.7 million. As for his take on the current market, Cortazzo says, “There is more demand than supply.” He is currently listing an oceanfront mansion on more than 2.5 acres in Malibu for $75 million.

DREW FENTON

HILTON & HYLAND

It’s been a typical year for Hilton & Hyland’s Drew Fenton, meaning that he completed deals for a dizzying number of big names, including Chelsea Handler; producer David Zander (who paid $30.7 million for Todd Phillips’ Beverly Hills Estate); Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher; Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson; and model Miranda Kerr and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel (who spent $120 million in an off-market Holmby Hills deal that closed in August). He also co-listed a Paul Williams house, called the Bellagio Estate, bought by Kevin Feige for $52 million and is one of the agents on the $165 million listing of The Manor, built by Aaron Spelling. Notes Fenton, who has been an agent for more than 20 years and has more than $5.8 billion in career sales,”Touring the most incredible estates in the city is the best gift, and I am grateful every day.” While he says that stock market volatility has been a challenge in the past year, he has one word for where he sees the market going: “Up.”

SALLY…