Hang your license somewhere the name is already known.
Mi Casa Bonita Realty has worked out of the same office on Maclay Avenue since 2005. Fifteen agents, four languages, and a client base across the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley that mostly arrives by referral.
The office at a glance
- Founded2005
- Agents15
- OfficeSan Fernando
- Languages4
- Neighborhoods29
Most agents find Janie Pineda before they find us.
Serj Bouchanian joined this office because he went looking for the top-selling agents near him, saw Janie Pineda's name come up, and picked up the phone. He is not the only person who has arrived here that way.
Janie has been listing and selling in San Fernando, Sylmar and Pacoima since 2005, and is consistently among the busiest agents in this part of the Valley. Almost all of it is referral business — sellers who ask for her by name because she sold their sister's house, or their neighbor's.
For an agent deciding where to hang a license, it is worth being precise about what that does and does not mean. It does not mean leads get handed to you. It means that when you say which office you are with, people in this Valley have usually heard of it — and a listing appointment that starts warm is a different conversation than one that starts cold.
What that looks like day to day
Janie works her own clients, same as everyone else here. What she also does is answer the phone when a newer agent is standing in someone's kitchen and the seller has just asked a question they were not ready for. You will not be put on a schedule to sit in the office waiting for the phone to ring for someone else's client. What you get instead is somebody down the hall who has been doing this for twenty years and will pick up when you call.
Meet Janie Pineda
Twenty years in this market, working San Fernando, Sylmar and Pacoima — and the reason a good number of the agents on this roster are on it.
See her profileThe rest of the roster
Fifteen agents, each with their own page. Have a look at who you would be working alongside.
Meet the teamExperienced, or newly licensed
You already have your own clients
Bring it. Your clients stay your clients, your listings stay your listings, and the brokerage side stays out of the way. Marketing help, a second opinion on a difficult deal, someone to cover a showing when you are double-booked — all of it is here when you want it, and nobody will chase you when you don't.
Start a conversationYou just passed the exam
The first year decides most careers in this business. Here that means a licensed agent to work alongside, contracts explained line by line before you sign one on a client's behalf, and somebody you can reach when a deal starts going wrong at seven in the evening. Ask about the split and the costs on the first call — we would rather tell you plainly than publish a number that would not apply to you.
Start a conversationWhat working here actually means
Independent, not a franchise
No franchise dues, no corporate script, nobody in another state deciding how you talk to your clients. Decisions get made in this building.
A bilingual client base
Twelve of our fifteen agents work in Spanish, and Portuguese and Armenian are spoken here too. A lot of this Valley would rather make the largest purchase of their life in the language they think in.
You work the areas you know
San Fernando out to Lancaster, with a page on this site for the neighborhoods we know best and the agents who work them. Nobody here has to pretend to be an expert in all of Los Angeles County.
Your name on your own work
Every agent here has their own page on this site, their own line and their own email. What you build is yours, and it is visible.
Twenty years of paperwork behind you
Two decades of transactions out of one office means most of what can go wrong has already gone wrong here once. That is worth more than a training video.
One office, on Maclay
668 N Maclay Ave, San Fernando. Come by, sit down, and ask whatever you want to ask before you commit to anything.
What agents ask us first
Do I need experience to join?
No. There are agents here who have been licensed for eighteen years and agents in their first month. What matters is whether you will pick up the phone and tell a client something they do not want to hear.
What is the commission split?
It depends on your experience and your volume, so we would rather go through it on a call than publish a figure that would not apply to you. Ask in the first conversation and you will get a straight answer.
I'm still in real estate school. Should I wait to get in touch?
No — talk to us now. California requires the license in hand before you can act on a transaction, but knowing where you are headed first means you waste far less of your first ninety days.
How do I move my license over?
Your license moves by filing a change of broker with the California Department of Real Estate. It is a form, not an ordeal, and we walk you through it. The only genuinely awkward part is telling your current broker.
Do I have to speak Spanish?
No. Twelve of the fifteen agents here do, and it is genuinely useful in this market, but plenty of our business is in English — and Portuguese and Armenian get used here as well.
What happens after I get in touch?
Somebody calls you back, usually the same day. The first conversation is about what you are trying to build and whether this office can help you build it. If it is not a fit, we will say so rather than sign you and forget about you.
Start a conversation
Tell us where you are — licensed and looking, newly licensed, still in school, or just curious what the numbers look like. Call the office and ask for Janie Pineda, or send this and someone will call you back. Your current broker will not hear about it from us.
668 N Maclay Ave
San Fernando, CA 91340
Monday–Saturday, 9am–6pm
Evenings by appointment