Actress Turned Realtor | Kathrin Nicholson Interview

14 Dec Actress Turned Realtor | Kathrin Nicholson Interview

I studied theater and came to LA on an acting scholarship given to me by Katharine Hepburn. I was an actress for 10 years. In my downtime I was really interested in houses, renovating and design.

I have always had a passion for it. I have lived all around the world, born in England, West Indies, moved to Canada when I was 7 and now LA. I have always have a passion about design and culture and after renovating some houses, I got my real estate license and starting selling houses for friends.

How different is real estate in LA?
I love LA because we have so many different neighborhoods – it’s not a cookie cutter city. There is a home for everybody.

What is your advice for someone moving to the area?
Spend some time driving around, experience the neighborhoods – for funky go to Venice, upscale to Brentwood. You really have to drive around to see what speaks to you.

What are the hottest areas?
The Westside is always very hot. Malibu has come such a long way in the last 10 years.

What are some trends?
Smart homes are very ‘in’ right now. Screening rooms are popular. Trending for developers, are two pretty distinct styles – Cape Cod white with the light hardwood floors and white cabinets. And the polar opposite are the amazing contemporary homes – very sleek, cool and playing to the views up in the hills.

Can you tell us about some of your clients?
My philosophy is to take on only as many listings as I can handle. People put a lot of trust in you when they are buying a house. It’s important for me to have their trust, so I tend not to have too many listings. I do have a fair number of celebrity clients so I employ discretion where warranted.
Sometimes, I encourage celebrities to share their story on why they are selling their house. An example of this is Don Johnson. Because the buyer pool is very small in Santa Barbara, we had to tailor our marketing strategy. To that end, I spoke to Don and his wife Kelly on how to market it.

Don Johnson’s Santa Barbara home is on the market for $14.9 million.

What types of homes to you specialize in?
I do everything. To me its more about the people than the house, and that’s a big tenet of mine. I cross the gamut of areas from Los Feliz to Malibu, to the Valley.  I believe a well informed client is the most important thing. My biggest strength is finding people the right house.
Why The Agency?

I moved to The Agency after 14 years at another agency. The energy here is like nothing I have ever seen. The offices are all glass, open, bright, people sharing information….its remarkable. I think the biggest thing is that real estate today is global so you want to get your clients the most exposure – and that is what they do here at The Agency.

IN BRIEF

I feel that giving back is important….My family and I do a lot of charity work for Autism Speaks & the Red Cross. We also just founded The Women of The Agency here, and will be helping to champion causes important to women.

I love continuing to learn the business of real estate. I’ve taken Negotiation and the Art of Persuasion at USC, something I also practice on my 5 yr old, and I love the continuing emphasis on learning technology and innovation at The Agency. I’m always excited to think outside the box when it comes to helping my clients.