Market Leader
The longstanding luxury agent and his group are on a perpetual mission—to highlight the beauty of real estate and satisfy the most discerning clients in the business.
Randy Solakian Estates Group: Deanna Solakian Williams, Randy Solakian and Jessica McLernon
Randy Solakian Estates Group
The longstanding luxury agent and his group are on a perpetual mission—to highlight the beauty of real estate and satisfy the most discerning clients in the business.
Written by Constance Dunn
“From the beginning,” says real estate agent Randy Solakian, “I’ve been committed to deliver a standard of service and care not available anywhere else in the business.” The 40-plus-year veteran of luxury real estate is discussing how certain fundamentals of his business have changed over the decades—while others never will.
DID YOU KNOW?
Since entering real estate in the 1980s, Randy Solakian has represented notable estate and ranch properties, as well as architecturally significant and historic properties in the Santa Barbara area and beyond.
Eschewing accolades and industry statistics, Solakian regularly represents high-profile clientele and properties, such as the recent co-listing of Santa Barbara’s El Rancho Tajiguas, included among Architectural Digest’s “The World’s 9 Most Expensive Home Listings Currently on the Market.”
Like the knack for finding unique highlights of each listing, and keenly communicating them. “There’s beauty in every property,” Solakian points out. “There’s also history and legacy and heritage in many of the properties I represent. It's my priority to convey the special attributes of each property to the world in my marketing.” Solakian Estates Group properties tend to be focused in the hyper-exclusive realm, located in Montecito and Hope Ranch and “overflow with beauty at every turn,” he describes, “and that’s always fun. It’s an art form to sell real estate, and to reveal the distinct beauty of each property to the observer.”
Back in the day Solakian did this via selective print campaigns, which now extend to the digital universe. “The highest quality photography has always been an essential criterion for our marketing program,” states Solakian. “As the world became more digital, it was like nuclear power for communicating our materials and messaging,” he chuckles, citing the immediacy and global reach of digital platforms, which he and his team wield discerningly. “We are razor focused on our digital interface with the world,” he says. “However, I’m only interested in those tools that fit the quality, exclusivity and the dignity of the property—and of a very discerning clientele.”
A heightened sense of aesthetics, for nature and design in particular, was perhaps inborn in Solakian. Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, the son of an architect came north to attend UCSB and afterwards, entered real estate. “I was absolutely in love with Santa Barbara and didn’t want to live anywhere else in the world,” Solakian shares. “I could leverage my background in architecture, construction and design. Also, I saw real estate as a possibility to earn the proverbial unlimited income, and I could also control my working hours. What’s not compelling about that?”
“There’s also history and legacy and heritage in many of the properties I represent. It’s my priority to convey the special attributes of each property to the world in my marketing.”
Another lure was the nature of the work itself. “Real estate,” Solakian points out, “is all about working with people. The ability to do something really meaningful for them, in terms of matching them up with a dream home or helping them optimize a sale of their home, compelled me to dive head first into the business.” It’s a reward shared by daughter Deanna Solakian Williams, who joined her father in real estate more than a decade ago. “Once she scratched the surface,” says Solakian, “the more she fell in love with it.” Santa Barbara native and agent Jessica McLernon rounds out the team. “We’re a partnership across the board,” remarks Solakian. “The three of us support our business and clientele in a powerful way that none of use could do individually.”
Constant improvement in the quality of service to clients is the central premise of the group, helmed by a man who, despite his affable, even relaxed demeanor, is perpetually focused on achieving the best. “This business has been, over many decades, my life and joy,” reflects Solakian. “And it’s also my passion.” To provide the kind of service that meets the expectations of the most scrutinizing clients in the marketplace—who, he points out, require and appreciate it—is the engine that has kept him at the top of the local real estate leaderboard for decades. “It's an essential qualifier for any and all interface with the marketplace,” he states. “It’s what sustains me.”
Randy Solakian Estates Group
805.565.2208 MontecitoEstates.com