Top Real Estate Agents In California (2026)

FastExpert ranks its agents based on their number of successful sales, real customer reviews, and years active. We collect each real estate agent’s transaction history to provide the most accurate data in our directory of top agents. We like to use the data of the last three years of closed sales as a reference point, as it shows how well the agent is doing now - not 10 years ago.

We only show true and accurate data, and our agents cannot buy their way into a higher ranking. At FastExpert, you’ll always see the most accurate and up-to-date rankings with our top real estate agents.

According to the California Department of Real Estate as of May 2020, there are a total of 428,229 licensed real estate agents.

Total real estate agent fees (including seller and buyer’s agents) range from 4-6% of the total home sale price.

This is split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. So if a home sells for $500,000 and the commission is 5%, the total fee is $25,000 with $12,500 for each agent.

The home seller usually pays for this fee, but that can vary depending on what both sides agree on.

If you want to see if a real estate agent is licensed in California you can visit the California Department of Real Estate website and look them up by name. This will give you their license number, type, and the cities they are active.

The seller commonly pays the realtor fee.

You will usually see the fee included in the final closing costs for the property sale. On average, total commissions are about 4-6% of the total house sale price, with half going to the seller’s agent and half to the buyer’s agent. This is negotiable and is something you should discuss with your agent before you decide to work with them.

When looking to hire a real estate agent in California, it’s essential to interview a few agents and choose the one that fits your needs best.

When interviewing, there are some questions to ask to ensure you get information that will help you with your decisions.

Be sure to ask about where they have worked in the past, what their average price point is, how they like to communicate, and how much they charge for commission. For a full list of recommended questions, see our blog post, Essential Interview Questions to Ask a Real Estate Agent.

California real estate agents do much more than just put a sign in front of your house. A good Realtor will work with you from the moment you decide to sell your home to after you hand over the key.

This includes things like working with appraisers to set the right listing price, staging, having pictures taken, preparing the listing, online marketing, open houses, working with individual showings, answering questions, negotiating, closing paperwork, and so much more!

If you don’t think hiring a real estate agent is worth the money, think about this - according to the National Association of Realtors, in 2021 the average home sold FSBO (for sale by owner) sold for 32% less than the average home sold with a Realtor.