I used Brian to lease my home where I had lived for 31 years. I had attempted to lease it myself, but I received a letter from Brian and there was something in the way he presented himself that made me feel good about him. Brian came out and we chatted, and he was extremely professional. I had certain needs such as that I didn’t want a lock box and that I got the right party as tenants. I wasn’t moving right away and he was very patient and understood my needs.

When the time came to show the house, we talked about the best way to present it. Then Brian vetted everyone and made recommendations to me. He is very protective of the client and he made sure I had the right people. He always did what was best for me.

Brian is excellent—always helpful and responsive. He knows his market, he knows how to market a property, and he does a professional job! Nothing is lacking! I have an issue right now, unrelated to him, with the tenants and he’s on top of it.

- Mel Moss, Laurel Canyon

My husband and I were first-time homebuyers and we had no clue what we were doing. We were doing it completely on our own at first—didn’t know how to find a good realtor. As with making any major purchase, you feel like someone is going to take advantage of you.

We found Brian because we were looking at a condo he was representing. He had such a warm presence, not imposing, and so willing to be accommodating. We talked in detail and hit it off. I asked him if he could show us other properties. Patience is a big requirement for me—I read the fine print and ask hundreds of questions and a lot of people don’t like that. Brian was just incredible—so kind and patient with us. He explained everything. He helped us not only search for a home, but once we decided on a home, he helped us ask the right questions, and protected us from getting taken advantage of by the other side.

I know realtors work for the commission, but I never once got that impression or pressure from Brian. Our deal didn’t require any follow up but Brian checked in on us as a realtor and as a friend to make sure everything was still good and we were fine in our new place.

My husband and I have talked about this—if and when we sell our condo in five or six years we hope Brian is still a realtor because we will go back to him in a heartbeat. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. He was perfect.

- Katie Garagiola, Hollywood

Brian helped my wife and me buy a house. He helped us with securing the loan, viewing properties, making an offer, going through the inspections, and then with the back and forth with the sellers. Subsequently he helped me find tenants. For the rental, he showed the property, did the paperwork and helped choose good renters. There were various questions that arose and I knew I could always go to him. He was definitely fair with his commissions and worth it. With everything that comes up around my property, Brian is my first call.
- Ian McDonald, Atwater Village

Three years ago we started searching for a home. Brian was representing one of the houses we saw and we called him for the address. Instead of just giving us the address and sending us on our way, he said, “Why don’t you come to my office first?” We looked at his inventory and we were impressed that he redirected us, in a gentle, non-aggressive manner.

After about a year I became pregnant and we put the house search on hold for a year. Brian kept us informed the entire time, checking in with updates on the market, new listings and keeping us interested. Brian has a professional, easy-going, non-confrontational manner. He was never pushy, but assertive in the best possible way! He showed us a lot of homes and there were many times I was ready to just jump in and go for it. He would educate and advise me to wait for what I really wanted, the right one. When we seriously started looking again, it took almost another year because we found a short sale. I must have spoken to him every day for that year.

When it was time to sell our home, it was not easy. Brian was patient and persistent. He found a buyer in the first week, during the recession! Our house had a number of small repairs. I said my husband would take care of it, but Brian helped us find a handyman and we got it all taken care of.

I referred him to my neighbor and he sold her home, too. Since then he has sold a number of homes in the Silver Lake area. He is just great and we became friends in the process. I am an interior designer and deal with trades-people all day. In three years, we did not have one problem with Brian. That’s amazing! I can’t say enough good things about Brian Ades.

- Catherine F., Silver Lake

Our experience with Brian was great. My wife and I wanted to test the waters of the market because we thinking about moving back to the east coast. But we were apprehensive because the housing market wasn’t doing well. Laura knew Brian from years ago when he was a commercial producer.

Brian has a keen eye for architecture and recognizes good lines so he knows a gem when he sees one. And we had a gem. Brian thought we could get a good price for the house and in fact we did. He thought he could sell it in a day with minimal work on our end. Brian researched the house, which was designed by the architect Edward Flickett. He found out that the first owner was a composer for Disney so Brian developed an interesting marketing plan. He said we could start with a low price and sell fast, or higher price and it would take it longer, or try to bring both markets together with a price in the middle. The guy with the lower number would try to come up with more, and the higher guy with more money would try to outbid the others. Then Brian brought his creativity from his days as a commercial producer and for the first open house he hired a Cordon Blue Chef and made it a memorable event. We had 6 offers in a day.

A bidding war ensued and it sold for well over the asking price!

Brian really brings his experience as a producer to real estate. When doing a production there is no “no.” If something needs to be done and it seems impossible, you adapt and find a way to do it. I was an art director and my wife a producer. As an art director, I had done a number of things to the house and Brian added his creative input. He was best telling us what NOT to do – we were going to spend money on fixing the walkway and bigger projects like that, but he said people will overlook little flaws, and to focus on other things instead. He stopped us from wasting our cash on fixes that wouldn’t increase the sales price.

Brian followed up all the way through to the end. Whenever something came up he had his army of people to call upon. Even after sale, he helped us rent a place for the summer. He won’t make money off of that—he was just being helpful.

I am thinking about moving to New York and Brian is going to put us in touch with people there.

I can’t think of a negative aspect of the whole process. We’ve recommended Brian to a number of friends and I will keep recommending him. Some ppl don’t want to listen or take his advice, he’d probably wouldn’t nec take on that property. He may not be the right fit for every property – he won’t just take it on to have a lot of listings. He feels a certain passion either for the property or the person.

- Richard Sturges & Heidi Nolting, Hancock Park

Brian was referred to us by some friends he had worked with on two homes. They had a great experience, as we did. We thought it was funny that he discouraged us from the home we were initially looking at. And when he said he agreed with our final decision, we felt confident with his approval.

He was very thorough and helpful in a number of areas, finding a contractor for us and rounding up inspectors. We were new to all this and Brian gave us every kind of helpful advice. He was personally interested and stayed with us, making sure we knew what we were getting into.

- Laura M, Hancock Park