Were thrilled that we found Brooke and Jamie their dream home in Silver Lake

lacma
Los angeles county museum of art
5905 wilshire boulevard
los angeles ca 90036

When my husband and I began our search for a house in Silverlake, I must admit that I thought I knew just about everything required to find the home of our dreams. We lived in the neighboring town of Echo Park and were more than familiar with the area, and I was an avid MLS reader—I had literally been looking at it numerous times a day for more than a year. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure that we needed a realtor. But when my husband told me about a blog he found that provided information about homes for sale in the Ivanhoe School District, I thought we may as well touch base. We were, after all, about to have a baby, and wanted him to have access to one of the best public schools in Los Angeles (the gorgeous reservoir setting, proximity to the dog park, restaurants, and shops also didn’t hurt matters).

To say I was naïve about the advantages of working with a realtor—specifically Dan Ortega—would be an understatement. First, there was much I apparently didn’t know about the particular area we were hoping to move to (like how competitive the market was there, despite what may have been happening in other parts of the city). Nor did I have access to homes for sale well in advance of them ever making it onto the MLS. In fact, I discovered that many of the best listings never do.

More to the point, there is no doubt that we would not have even seen our home—a beautiful three bedroom, two bath, Spanish style nestled just above the reservoir—without Dan. His relationship with the listing agent provided us a chance to see the house before it even went on the market (this was true about a number of houses we looked at with Dan), and his willingness to believe that there was a home for us despite a number of obstacles we laid in his path (like my high number of unusual aesthetic requirements and the truly complex involvement of other members of my family), never wavered…even when my faith did. He also provided invaluable advice about our offer, a lesson we learned only after making an offer he thought wasn’t strong enough (we actually lost the house to another buyer, but were given another chance to re-bid when she backed out).

Based upon our experience, my husband and I would happily recommend Dan to any other potential buyers and look forward to many happy years in our new home thanks to Dan!


Brooke fruchtman
Senior editor, lacma