Search
Close this search box.
Search
Santiago Arana, the agency,

Santiago Arana Hollywood’s Top Real Estate Agent

Santiago Arana of The Agency is has been on The Hollywood Reporter’s 2018 list of LA’s Top 30 Real Estate Agents for the last seven years. From busboy to a nationally ranked real estate agent, the managing partner of The Agency exemplifies an unrelenting will to succeed.

By

Share

Santiago Arana is the Managing Partner of The Agency in Beverly Hills

HOLLYWOOD’S AGENT
Been featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s 2018 list of L.A.’s Top 30 Real Estate Agents for the last seven consecutive years.

TOP 10
Currently ranked no. 6 on REAL Trends “The Thousand 2018” with more than $420MM in sales volume for the year.

DEVELOPER, TOO
Arana developed a $23 million Brentwood mansion, which he sold last year to LeBron James.


One thing that nearly all successful people share is a respect for rituals. A discipline in following a seemingly small, daily order of things that enables them to function in full bloom, each day.

Take Santiago Arana. He is principal and partner, along with Billy Rose and Mauricio Umansky, at Beverly Hills-based powerhouse firm The Agency. Still in his 30s, he’s already amassed over $2 billion in career sales.

All of this is even more striking when one realizes that it wasn’t too many years ago that he was working in a restaurant in Santa Barbara, first as a busboy, then, as his English improved, a server, after coming to the U.S. from Bolivia in 2003 at age 23 to learn English before embarking on an MBA program. (He already had a business and marketing university degree.)

School would have to wait for the son of a chemical engineer and politician father, and a kindergarten teacher mother, both of whom ingrained Santiago Arana with a work ethic of steel and a can-do attitude where nothing was off-limits. Both traits account for his explosive success in real estate after landing in Los Angeles, another new agent among many.

“It’s about making a decision. It’s about knowing what you want,” says Arana, recounting his steps to success, all forged in self-determinism. Have goals and the certainty that you can achieve them, he shares. That and an unfailing work ethic.

“I believe we are all owners of our own destiny, and we can create our life. But we need to take charge as human beings of our own life because no one else is going to do it for us.”

Santiago Arana

Santiago Arana balances hard work and a winning mindset with self-care. Enter those indispensable rituals. “I work really hard, but at the same time I make time for myself,” he says.

“If you are not working within, people will perceive that you’re not in alignment with yourself.”

This means looking after one’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health—something Arana emphasizes.

“When I present myself to clients, they feel that energy and I think they are attracted to that.”

In real estate, where relationships are everything, showing up with a good vibe is essential. For Santiago Arana, this means days start early at his Pacific Palisades home.

“I wake up at five o’clock in the morning and I meditate for half an hour.”

This is followed by the gym (he has black belts in kickboxing and tae kwon do), and breakfast with his family. These things are non-negotiable and here’s why: “If I don’t do this every day,” he states, “I cannot be one-hundred percent Santiago.”

A hundred percent is important when the stakes are this high. Santiago Arana has achieved a rocket-ship like success; he needs fuel to keep moving forward. This includes actively growing his development business, finishing his first book and mentoring others. (Prior to speaking to DIGS, Santiago Arana had just wrapped up a motivational seminar for agents at his firm.)

Continuing to grow The Agency is another goal. Particularly appealing to Arana is stoking its increasingly international footprint. (The Agency recently opened an office in British Columbia, joining locations in Mexico and Turks and Caicos.) And, of course, continuing to sell luxury homes, principally in Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Santa Monica, and Malibu, where Arana has the bulk of his listings.

In what must have been a satisfying twist to his earlier, less prosperous days in Santa Barbara, however, Arana has listed two record-setting estates in the area: one in Santa Barbara, currently on the market, and another, (sold earlier this year) in nearby Montecito, for $40 million and $35 million, respectively.

Those early days, however, when Santiago Arana was busing or waiting tables and dreaming big, are never lost on him: “Every day I think about them,” he says.

“Every day I am grateful that I had to do that, and every day I’m grateful that I don’t have to do it anymore.

“I wake up every day and look at where I am,” he adds. “I see my house and my wife—who is my rock and biggest supporter—and my kids, and I feel like it’s a dream. I created it, and I’m living it.”

Santiago Arana

Managing Partner, the Agency
424.231.2399 | TheAgencyRE.com

Photos: Courtesy of Santiago Arana

RELATED TAGS

Modern Marvel: Explore the Exquisite Design of 1156 Sixth Street

1156 Sixth Street in East Manhattan Beach boasts 8 bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms across 8,100 square feet of meticulously crafted space. This residence offers unparalleled spaciousness and elegance designed by award-winning architect Anthony Laney, and seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor living, creating an expansive entertaining space perfect for gatherings.
  • March 20, 2024
  • Constance Dunn

Elevate Your Mountain Experience: Introducing Limelight Residences Mammoth

Escape to the majestic beauty of Mammoth Mountain's snow-capped peaks and indulge in luxurious mountain living at the Limelight Residences Mammoth. Nestled within the heart of the Village at Mammoth, this exclusive collection of 15 high-end residences offers a sophisticated retreat where every detail is meticulously crafted for comfort and convenience.
  • March 6, 2024
  • Constance Dunn

The Witkoff Group Unveils The Park Santa Monica: A Seven-Story Oasis of Luxury

Beyond a mere residence, The Park Santa Monica is a dynamic seven-story building, designed by Koning Eizenberg Architecture for The Witkoff Group, redefines luxury living by seamlessly blending beauty, wellness, and community. With 249 thoughtfully crafted apartments featuring top-tier amenities, from white oak flooring to solar panels, The Park Santa Monica sets itself apart.
  • January 10, 2024
  • Abigail Stone

Timeless Fusion: The Cotswolds Home by Architect Richard Found

Architect Richard Found's contextual country home in the Cotswolds encapsulates the essence of minimalist design within an 18th-century edifice. Located in the picturesque Cotswolds, this project by Found Associates breathes new life into a derelict gamekeeper's cottage, blending modernist architecture with the vernacular stone construction of the region.
  • January 10, 2024
  • Jenn Thornton

Weave House by The BAD Studio: An Ode to Indian Ikat Patterns

Weave House by The BAD Studio seamlessly blends contemporary design with traditional Indian craftsmanship, creating a harmonious living space inspired by the region's rich textile heritage, the house features an embossed brick and diamond façade reminiscent of Indian ikat patterns. The architecture coexists with the surrounding landscape, offering an organic lifestyle and smooth transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces.
  • November 1, 2023
  • Jenn Thornton
Sign Up for DIGS Newsletters