The Local Real Estate Group (formerly C+K) | Compass — Local services in Los Angeles

I've had the pleasure of working with The Local Real Estate Group 3 times now and cannot recommend them enough. If you're considering buying or selling a home in Northeast Los Angeles, this is the team that you're looking for.

HOME BUYING:

It was difficult to decide where to even start as a first-time homebuyer. Reaching out to several other agents in the area only led to stock messages or no reply at all. When I called The Local, owner Kurt Wisner immediately invited me to their office patio for a beer and a chat. It was clear that he and his team were knowledgeable, not-at-all pushy, and excited to get to know their clients and what they're looking for. I still pop by their office just to say "hi" when in the area.

Our chat led to pairing me with buying agent, Mark Grimes, who was simply incredible. Mark is experienced, active, and extremely personable; he made himself available for questions any time and he wasn't afraid to speak up if he noticed potential issues with a property. The condo that ended up being my first home was one that Mark recognized as a great fit - he saw the listing go live on the same morning that we were touring another unit nearby and was able to get us a showing that same day. He and The Local team were on-the-ball through the whole escrow process and kept things moving quickly and painlessly through closing.

Fast forward a few years and a marriage: Mark was the first person we reached out to when thinking about upgrading to a single family home. Once again, he was fully engaged and always actively listening to what was important to us. He helped us navigate the crazy, much more competitive landscape of the current market and hone in on exactly the home to fit our needs. His strategic experience helped us win out over multiple other offers (some all cash) and he kept the process moving all the way to the finish line. We would not be in our house today without Mark and the rest of the team and we can't thank them enough!

HOME SELLING:

It was a no-brainer to handle the sale of the condo through The Local after our great experiences buying with them. We were paired with selling agent, Eugene Ridenour, who was equally wonderful. Eugene oversaw the entire process with vision and patience; always making sure that every decision was a conversation about what we wanted and what would bring the best results. Nothing was oversold or felt pressured. Included in the commission were The Local's in-house contractor and design expert who helped organize repairs, painting, and staging to make the unit shine. Even when our listing date fell during his planned family vacation, Eugene was checking in (from Europe!) during all of the milestone showings, offers, and closing.

Another of The Local's selling agents, Edith Reyna, seamlessly took over during Eugene's family vacation. Edith handled everything for us in preparing and hosting the open houses. She was extremely communicative and kept us in the loop after each showing. We receievd multiple, great offers and Edith sat down with us and talked through all of the pros, cons, and potential negotiation points of each. Her constant communication kept up through escrow which helped bring us to the finish line without any issues.

To say that we were blown away by the end result is an understatement. The listing, the photos, and the final sale price were all well above even our highest expectations. The entire process was shockingly stress-free and professionally handled from start to finish. We would not hesitate to rely on Eugene, Edith, Mike, Carla, and everyone else at The Local to sell a home in the future.

Seriously, give The Local a call if you're looking into realtors in the area. Their expertise and client-first approach to everything just may change...

I cannot recommend working with Anselm or the Courtney + Kurt agency.

Most importantly, as a first time home buyer, I did not feel that Anselm looked out for or protected my best interests. I have several specific examples:

Although I was depending on him, he never once raised any concerns about a single property I looked at. When I brought this up with him after the fact, his response was that I had good taste.

Likewise, with the property I bought, I also specifically asked if the area south of Pico was as good of an area as north of it. He responded that, from the ten+ offers on the property, it obviously was. It has quickly become clear that it is not.

In negotiations over seller concessions for repairs, he also repeatedly told me that I was asking for too MUCH, urging me to drop several or lower several repair requests. This, after he encouraged a bid 150k over asking.

On the inspection front, he recommended an inspector whose license had been suspended. I discovered this only after I was unsatisfied with work and began looking into the people he had recommended, necessitating a scramble for new inspections before the contractual deadline. I've also now discovered that extensive electrical work-- never mentioned by any of the inspectors-- is recommended.

Separately, I also found Anselm to be lazy. Although I told him about a number of open houses I wanted to attend, he attended a grand total of three with me. If the open houses were not in areas that were convenient for him, he would not attend and leave me to go alone. He now says that a lot of his clients prefer to go on their own and not have him hovering; that's fine, but I specifically asked him on multiple occasions and he still did not attend. Of those he did attend, two were listings from his own agency (one of his wife) and the last was the property I ultimately bought. I believe the only property listing he ever proactively sent me were ones from his agency.

I found Anselm because I was initially looking at Silver Lake and Courtney + Kurt had great reviews for the area. When I called the agency, I asked to be paired with their most aggressive agent. They recommended Anselm and told me he was one of their highest producing agents, which he also later described himself as. When I asked a friend to look him up on MLS, however, it did not attribute very many sales to him. You can draw your own conclusions from that.

I am now considering...

I could not recommend this team enough. From start to finish this was the most pleasant experience imaginable.

As first time buyers, Kevin Brennan was our shepherd as we navigated through the arduous task of buying in Los Angeles during this market. Step by step he laid out all of the options for us and was extremely prompt and caring when it came to any of our concerns. He was able to break everything down for us in a way that it didn’t become overwhelming or frustrating. He managed our expectations and took the time to walk us through every scenario that pertained (and could’ve pertained) to us.

Together we found the perfect house that checked all our boxes but to our surprise it didn’t end there. Kevin and his team not only held our hand during the escrow process taking care of all of the finer details but they had our best interest and facilitated professionals that were trustworthy and experienced when it came to any of our concerns. Buying a postwar modern home was always a dream for us and there are many aspects of it that aren’t necessarily turnkey, so his list of contacts to help us after the move-in has been invaluable.

We couldn’t imagine a more perfect situation leading up to the purchase, during, and after. The level of attention, patience and care is one that I’ve rarely seen in ANY industry and we can’t show enough gratitude for feeling like someone really had our back. It’s something that can’t easily be described and can only be experienced.

Thank you Kevin and the Local Group team for making our dreams come true, we can’t wait to host you at...