John Stanaland, a top Orange County agent who has pulled in over $4.5 billion in home sales in his 27-year career, has left Villa Real Estate for Douglas Elliman Realty.
And he’s taken his eponymous team of 11 (and floating office the Huntress) with him.
“My primary offices historically have been my car and my boat,” he said with a chuckle. “In all honesty, I work out of my boat three or four days a week. But I will work out of Newport’s office more than my boat.”
Speaking by phone from that Newport Beach office the day before his official departure on Jan. 26 was announced, the 54-year-old had only good things to say about Villa Real Estate, insisting his reason for leaving after 5 years had to do with opportunity.
Villa Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment on Stanaland’s departure.
“I sell a lot of real estate, and a lot of my clientele is bi-coastal; it’s from all over the country, it’s international,” he said. “Aligning myself with Douglas Elliman will give me the ability to give that much more service to my clients and also expand my business that much more.”
Douglas Elliman is one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the United States. Since purchasing Los Angeles-based Teles Properties in 2017, Douglas Elliman has been an ever-expanding presence in Southern California, with a roster that includes The Altman Brothers and The Eklund | Gomes teams.
Stanaland’s pivot comes during a housing slowdown in the region.
“The inventory is crazy low, but people are still paying big prices,” he said. “We’ve written half a dozen offers in the last week from $5 million to $14 million, and those are all cash deals.”
In 2022, the John Stanaland Group closed more than $300 million in sales, including a $29.99 million home in Laguna Beach’s upscale Montage Ocean Estates plus another $1.3 million for the furniture outside of escrow.
Additionally, the team was responsible for four of the five highest condo sales in Orange County.
Stanaland works with his wife, Rachel, and son Trevor, a former Santa Ana police and SWAT officer. His eldest son, Tyler, is a former pro surfer currently with The Oppenheim Group and starring in the reality series “Selling the O.C.,” which Netflix just renewed for two more seasons.
The team includes Logan Montgomery, Andrew Ly, Brenda Milan, Deb Robinson, Gary McCord, Morgan Just, Mitch Frisch, Taylor Nelson and Mariam Bell. But Stanaland said he has plans to double his team of top-producing agents, much to the delight of Douglas Elliman brass.
“I am confident that John and his team will help us to accelerate that growth and strengthen our standing in Orange County,” Howard M. Lorber, Douglas Elliman’s executive chairman, said in a statement.
A native of Laguna Beach, Stanaland is an established authority in high-end coastal property with big-ticket listings, including a $48.9 million mansion on a 13-acre-plus perch in Laguna Niguel’s Bear Brand Ranch and a $39.7 million front-row Montage Laguna Beach Resort home. He comes from a 100-year-plus lineage of Orange County real estate professionals that go back a century to his great-great-great grandfather.
“As a national brokerage with more than a century of history behind it, Douglas Elliman clearly shares our appreciation for the value of heritage in this business,” Stanaland said.