J.D. Songstad

Q: 1. What advice would you give a buyer trying to purchase a home?

Talk to a lender as soon as you start thinking about buying so you can get a jump start on planning your financing (unless you plan to pay all cash). This helps you plan ahead and saves a lot of stress of avoiding doing it last minute and potentially missing out on a great property that you fall in love with.

Q: 2. What advice would you give a seller trying to sell their home?

Make sure you hire a tech-savvy Realtor who will give your home maximum exposure online!

Q: 3. What types of clients have you worked with?

Both buyer and seller clients. My main focus is on residential properties - single family homes & townhomes/condos but I also sell income properties on occasion.

Q: 4. Describe a recent transaction you are fond of. How did it go?

A couple who are first-time home buyers reached out to me 9 years ago but decided the time was not right for them to buy. Recently they reached back out to me and purchased their first home. They are super excited and were shocked at how easy the process was when working with me and the lender that I referred them to! :)

Q: 5. How did you get started in Real Estate?

I had been in a variety of different types of sales and also spent 4 years in the US Air Force. Real estate seemed like a good career choice for me and I have been doing it full-time ever since starting in the business in 1999!

Q: 6. Do you have any special education or training that will benefit your clients?

I have a lot of hands-on knowledge of marketing and technology exposure as well as learning loads of valuable information from some of the top Realtors in the business who are part of a Real Estate Mastermind Group that I am a member of on Facebook. And I am about to start a video training class to learn how to get more amazing results from video.

Estate Properties

27 Years of Experience

(8)

$12.8M

Total Sales Last Year

Years of Experience

Recent TransactionsTransactions from the last 3 years

$1.3M

Average Price Point

Service Areas

Los Angeles, CA Marina Del Rey, CA Pacific Palisades, CA Playa Del Rey, CA Santa Monica, CA Venice, CA

View All Service Areas

About J.D. Songstad

An unrelenting devotion to client satisfaction drives J.D. Songstad to fight for his real estate clients' best interests. Focusing his practice on properties valued at $1 million+, J.D. works primarily with attorneys, doctors, financial, entertainment, and tech industry professionals who want to list and sell their Santa Monica area homes. J.D. has consistently been rewarded with repeat business by providing his real estate clients with individualized, prompt attention, and by taking a keen interest to make certain the outcome of each transaction is tilted in favor of his clients. His Midwestern upbringing, military service, and a strong background in sales have given J.D. the ability to relate to people in a personable, refreshingly honest way that enables him to help his clients reach their objectives as he lists and sells his clients' homes. A true passion for real estate is the foundation upon which J.D. has built his real estate practice. By working tirelessly for his client's best interests, J.D. ensures that Santa Monica area property owners have an advocate in their corner, fighting to get them the best possible deal. J.D. Songstad can be reached at 310- 571-3441

OTHER LANGUAGES

English

Community Involvement

I am quite involved with my church.

HOBBIES/INTEREST

Scuba diving, bicycling, hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, tennis, movies, live music & traveling.

Credentials

LICENSE

Real Estate - California - # 01269119

Designation

Realtor®,SFR

Awards

2026
TOP AGENT
Santa Monica, CA
2026
TOP AGENT
Marina Del Rey, CA

Other Awards

RE/MAX Platinum Club, RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award, & RE/MAX 100% Club

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J.D. Songstad's Reviews & Ratings

8 Reviews

(5/5)

Note: Reviews may include other agents on their team

What clients say about this agent....

Responsive
Communicative
Knowledgeable
Trustworthy
Professional
Available Remotely
Outstanding
Attentive
Excellent negotiator
Great for new buyers

Glover G.

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

August 27, 2017

Local Knowledge

Process Expertise

Responsiveness

Negotiation skills

ZillowVERIFIED

My wife and I just went through the process of buying a Los Angeles condo, which can be both physically and mentally exhausting. So its important to have the right help to guide you through.We worked with J.D. Songstad and could not be happier. In fact, we first met him 9 years previous and, though we decided not to purchase at that time, were very impressed with J.D. aEUR" so stayed on his distribution list for the entire 9 years until we were finally ready to purchase!J.D. is highly organized, effective, and offers many resources for buyers aEUR" from his personal time, to his website and blog, to many types of buyer information and education.J.D. also comes with his own network of professionals aEUR" from a fantastic mortgage company that we ourselves used, to inspectors, to even designers if you may need after your purchase. J.D. has been doing this a long time so his connections and knowledge of important services run deep.J.D. is also the nicest guy youll ever work with in real estate!Aside from all of the many great things I can say about J.D. that set him apart from other realtors, there are two main ones that strike me:1) One is the level of ethics and honesty he brings to the profession. I always sensed that people either mistrusted or just always had the wrong real estate guidance. I can tell you that J.D. is one of the most honest and transparent professionals that I have worked with. You can trust J.D.!2) My wife and I always felt like we were J.D.s only clients. Though we purchased a great condo, I know for sure J.D. deals with much more expensive properties aEUR" but yet he was always there for us, at all times of the day, to patiently answer questions and tirelessly keep things moving along the path of our new home purchase.If you are looking to buy property in Los Angeles, even to just begin to learn about the process and ask questions aEUR" J.D. Songstad is the right guy!

Leahcorbin

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

June 1, 2017

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ZillowVERIFIED

I have had forty years experience in buying and selling homes due to multiple relocations and I can say without a doubt that JD is the world's best realtor! JD made selling our home so easy! He gave us great advice that got us an offer above asking price almost immediately after we put our home on the market. And since we live out of state, he helped us organize all repairs and improvements. He advised us on financial elements of the sale that saved us thousands of dollars we would have lost had he not mentioned. He always kept us informed and made the process of selling our home painless. We can't give him enough praise!

Dwj1984

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

February 20, 2017

Local Knowledge

Process Expertise

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ZillowVERIFIED

This is incredibly long overdue review, but we worked with J.D. Songstad in Sept/Oct 2016 to buy our first home. My husband and I had been casually looking at condos for several months and when we finally decided to get serious, we werent sure how to proceed, so we were so happy we found J.D.! Immediately after our first phone call, he sent us an extensive list of potential properties and we were seeing places within a few days. He gave honest opinions when we asked, had a solid understanding of current market trends and respected our budget. He catered to our schedules and when we decided to put an offer in on a place that first week, he spent all of his Friday evening taking our many phone calls, providing us with sample introduction letters, and talking us through the process we were undertaking. He was patient and very attentive aEUR" he really makes you feel like you are his only client even though we knew how busy his schedule was. When our offer was accepted, he continued to explain next steps and made sure to ask thorough questions during the inspection process, as we had never been through one before. Through no fault of his own, the escrow process ended up being rather contentious due to some issues with the seller, but he shielded us from the brunt of it and really helped make a tough situation better. In the end, we came out with a new home that we love and we credit J.D. for helping make it possible. Wed work with him again in a heartbeat and would highly recommend him to anyone.

Chrysanlu628

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

December 23, 2016

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ZillowVERIFIED

Based on my experience of buying and selling four condos and houses in the last 20 years in the West LA area, I would not hesitate for a second to rate Mr. J.D. Songstad as the very best agent I have worked with AND heard of from others experiences! J.D. impressed my wife and me at the first meeting with his friendly, sunny and down-to-earth personality, which was reinforced by the unusually quick responses he did to our email and phone inquiries prior to the meeting. A memorable detail is that he refused to shake hands with me when we first met because he was still in the middle of having a cold; yet, he managed to schedule on a rather last-minute-notice our visit to a property that we wanted to see urgently. Although we were disappointed by what we saw in that showing, then J.D. began to reveal his incredibly rich knowledge about the housing market (particularly that in the Westside) by analyzing the current state of the market and presenting all kinds of options that might fit our budget and needs. He was an excellent listener as well as a clear-headed analysist. He was very sensitive to his clients needs and thus was able to put himself in his clients shoes very quickly; yet, he also enlightened his clients by offering different perspectives. He did all of these in a charming and low-key manner that we felt at home right away. Thanks to his wisdom and knowledge, we opened up our search horizon and indeed found our dream house in an area that was never on my radar before. Once the purchasing process began, J.D. furthered impressed us with his brilliant negotiation skills and superb expertise on every step of the process. He not only provided extremely useful advice on strategizing the purchase, but also went above and beyond to take care all the details in communication, negotiation, and arrangement for professional services. He was clearly the most responsive agent I have ever worked with, always getting back to me immediately or in very short time through email, text message or direct phone call. When we encountered some difficulties and unexpected problems in the middle of the process, J.D.s personality and character proved to be an extra plus/strength. He was calm, pragmatic, and positive, which helped us to stay calm and positive as well. Meanwhile, he used his rich experience, excellent expertise and strong network of connections to find solutions and helped to push the process forward all the way to escrow closing. In short, J.D. is such an outstanding, cheerful, knowledgeable and skillful agent that purchasing our dream house with his help has definitely become one of the enjoyable and unforgettable highlights for us in 2016. I would super-strongly recommend Mr. J.D. Songstad to anyone who wants to find a brilliant and pleasant agent to work with.

Scippix

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

September 1, 2014

Local Knowledge

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ZillowVERIFIED

JD knew the market and helped set a great price for our condo. As I'm an out of town seller, he stepped in for things when I couldn't be there. He provided good suggestions for staging as well. His negotiating skills with the buyer were great and I was kept informed at every step. I would use him again.

Patricia H.

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

April 20, 2014

Local Knowledge

Process Expertise

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Negotiation skills

ZillowVERIFIED

I had a great experience with JD. He worked with me on and off over 3 years while I went in and out of the real estate market (moving here, going from renting to selling my previous residence in another state, etc.) and he was incredibly patient and helpful through the whole process. He from the start put me on an automatic email system that regularly gave me MLS listings matching my criteria so I could keep up with what was on the market. And when we got down to writing offers he was clear about and on top of the steps involved and immediately responsive to my and the listing agent's questions. He was very good about giving me the information I needed to make a decision, but left the decisions to me. The market in Santa Monica is highly competitive and I believe that I finally got an offer accepted largely due to JD's advice and his good reputation with the listing agent. Thank you, JD!

Smlabuyer

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

November 4, 2011

Local Knowledge

Process Expertise

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ZillowVERIFIED

JD is thorough on both the selling and buying process. He is very responsive and knows the ins and outs of his business. He is skilled at using the Internet to help sell a client's home or to help them easily locate the home of their dreams. I recommend him 100%!

Steveham

Review for Member: J.D. Songstad

November 2, 2011

Local Knowledge

Process Expertise

Responsiveness

Negotiation skills

ZillowVERIFIED

We had a somewhat unique association with JD. We were out of town buyers. We owned a condo in NYC while our son was going to school out there. When he moved to the LA area we decided to sell the NYC condo and purchase one in LA, where our son could rent from us. We found JD Songstad online, and from the first contact we knew we had chosen the right broker. His knowledge of the areas in which we were interested was excellent, and the long distance service he provided was masterful. Our son met up with JD and they toured some properties (based on our criteria) and by the time we were able to fly down to LA, JD had a list of 10 or 12 properties, all of which fit our criteria to the last detail. He did not try to up-sell us and was invaluable in advising us on the right cities and neighborhoods. We probably spent 6 hours viewing these properties with JD before we made our choice of a property in Santa Monica. JD is an energetic and well organized broker. His email newsletter keeps us informed about the LA market, which for out of state owners, is a great service. Without reservation, we would recommend JD for anyone in the LA area.