Real estate companies in Los Angeles: the REITs based here, the licensed market and how to check a firm

Searches for real estate companies in Los Angeles split three ways. Most people want a residential brokerage (Google shows a map of offices, luxury brokerages and agent directories); businesses want a commercial broker or manager; and job seekers want a list of employers, which is what the Built In page in the results is. This report gives all three the same foundation: what the market contains, how to check any firm in it, which public companies are headquartered here, and how to sell to them.

The market in Census data

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts real estate establishments (NAICS 531) in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area (CBSA 31080), which is Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Los Angeles County has 17,152 establishments and 69,681 employees; Orange County has 7,200 and 39,830. Orange County firms are bigger on average (5.5 employees against 4.1).

CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, and leaves out the self-employed. That matters more in real estate than almost anywhere, because most agents are independent contractors paid by commission.

Brokers, landlords, managers, escrow: the types

Average pay is our calculation: annual payroll divided by employees.

Property managers employ the most people (47,106 across both types), while brokerage offices are numerous and tiny. The "other services" line is unusually large here: the Census Bureau's examples for it include real estate escrow agencies. Developers and builders are classified in construction (236 and 237210), and mortgage REITs in finance (525990), so neither appears above. See the NAICS code for real estate for the full code set.

Licensed agents, brokers and corporations

California's Department of Real Estate (DRE) publishes its full licensee list, updated daily. The file for 30 October 2026, counted by the county of each licensee's address of record:

Of the 111,744 salespersons in the two counties, 33,774 have the status "Licensed NBA," which DRE's lookup shows as no current responsible broker: licensed, but not working under a brokerage. Against 19,620 employees at broker offices in the Census count, the gap shows how the business works: agents are licensees, not staff.

Public real estate companies headquartered in Los Angeles and Orange counties

SEC-registered listed companies with real estate codes, checked on the cover page and income statement of each company's latest Form 10-K (fiscal 2025):

The headcounts in the same filings show how differently these companies run: Alexandria reported 514 employees, Kilroy 241, Sabra 58 full-time, and SmartStop more than 1,000. Marcus & Millichap is the only brokerage on the list. For how these compare nationally, see the biggest real estate companies in the US.

How to vet a Los Angeles brokerage, agent or manager

1. Look up the licence. DRE's public licence lookup shows status, the responsible broker for a salesperson, and any disciplinary action.
2. Match the corporation. If you'll sign with a company, look up the corporation licence and its designated officer, not just the agent.
3. Check discipline. DRE posts disciplinary actions against licensees for violations of the Real Estate Law.
4. Ask a manager about trust funds. Ask which bank account holds rents and deposits, who reconciles it monthly, and how quickly owners are paid.
5. Check the specialty. Commercial leasing, luxury listings and 40-unit apartment management are different businesses; ask for three recent deals like yours.

A seller's checklist for Los Angeles

• Interview at least two listing agents and confirm both licences, and the broker each works under, on DRE's lookup before you sign.
• Negotiate the commission and term. The National Association of Realtors' settlement, in force since 17 August 2024, bars offers of buyer-agent compensation on Realtor MLSs and says compensation is "not set by law and is fully negotiable."
• Know your protection. If a licensee defrauds you or converts your trust funds and you win a judgment you can't collect, DRE's Consumer Recovery Account can pay up to $50,000 per transaction, and up to $250,000 in total per licensee.
• Ask how escrow will be opened, and get the escrow company's name in writing early.

Selling to Los Angeles real estate companies

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.

Palisade Work Orders (palisadewo.example) sells maintenance software to residential managers with 20 to 999 employees. In the metro there are 142 + 50 + 31 + 9 + 7 = 239 of them (the 1,000-plus cell isn't published). Three contacts each (owner, director of operations, maintenance lead) gives 717 people; a 3% reply rate gives about 21 conversations, and one in four reaching a trial gives 5. Bebop finds managers that match a description like this and writes an account playbook for each.

Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [company]. Quick one: when a tenant at [property] reports a leak at 9pm, how does the ticket reach your vendor today? We help managers your size cut the handoffs to one text, and we can show it on two of your buildings in 20 minutes. Who else should be on that call?

Sources to use

For every industry in the region, see companies in Los Angeles.

Next step: build the list of firms you want with how to build a prospect list.