For eight years, I sat in the rooms where some of Los Angeles’ biggest real estate deals were negotiated. I gained invaluable firsthand experience learning what it truly takes to get a deal done. Now, I’m ready to use everything I’ve learned to build a legacy of my own. People love to talk about the glamorous side of this business – and trust me, I do too. I’ve had a front-row seat to some of the city’s most talked-about transactions and have seen just about everything that can possibly happen in a real estate transaction.
As the assistant to one of the top agents in Los Angeles (shout out to Justin P. Huchel), I helped close more than $700 million in transactions. I sat across the table from celebrity and ultra-high-net-worth buyers and sellers who expected and received absolute discretion. I’ve worked on $30M+ listings, I’ve helped represent clients whose names you’d recognize, I’ve worked alongside renowned attorneys, business managers, and industry professionals. I learned how to negotiate when it felt like there was no room left to negotiate, how to create a marketing strategy for a property with no true comparable, how to make a nervous seller feel like the only client in the world, how to win in multiple-offer situations on highly competitive properties, and so much more.
What people don’t talk about is what it’s like to do all of that from the passenger seat. To play a significant role in closing a deal without being the name on the sale.That’s not to say I wasn’t appreciated, because I absolutely was. My boss and our clients always gave me credit where it was due. But being behind the scenes only made me want to build something of my own even more. It has taken years of fear, self-doubt, and wondering how I was going to do this on my own. This year, I’ve decided to finally stop fearing, and start trying.
Today, I’m taking everything I’ve learned over the last eight-plus years and starting on my own. And I’ve decided to do something most agents don’t do, which is show what this journey actually looks like. Eight years in, I know exactly what it takes to market and sell a listing, whether it’s under $1 million or $30 million+. What I’m learning now is something entirely different – how to earn a client’s trust without relying on referrals.
That’s a different skill entirely, and I don’t think enough people talk about how difficult it is to build even with the résumé to back it up. As nervous as I am, I’m ready for it all – the wins, the slow weeks, the listing presentations that don’t land, and the ones that do. Because I believe the most honest thing I can offer someone trusting me with one of the biggest transactions of their life is proof that I built this business myself.